Segev Kizhner, 22: Huge FC Barcelona fan with a crazy smile

Segev Israel Kizhner, 22, from Atzmon in the Galilee, was murdered on October 7 while trying to flee the Supernova music festival.

Kizhner and his friends fled the site of the rave when the rocket fire began, and sought refuge with dozens of partygoers in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re’im. There he and many others were killed when Hamas terrorists threw grenades inside and opened fire on those seeking shelter, ultimately kidnapping five of those inside, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Segev’s friend Itamar Shapira, who attended the rave and survived, told Channel 12 news that he recalls Segev standing next to him inside the shelter “and I remember he said to me, ‘No, no, this can’t be real, this can’t be happening.'”

Itamar, who was seriously wounded but survived after a long recovery, said he was right next to Segev, “and he was hit by three bullets, which killed him on the spot — and those bullets are basically what saved me. They would have hit me if not him.”

Another of their friends, Alon Ohel, was taken hostage from the shelter, and remains captive in Gaza, while their friend Ayelet Arnin was also killed inside the structure.

Segev’s body was identified only several days later, and he was buried on October 12 in Misgav. He is survived by his parents, Tali and Yevgeny, and his two younger siblings.

He had only recently completed his mandatory military service, during which he served in the Israel Navy as a radio operator on missile boats. His family and friends said he had a great sense of humor, was devoted to his dog, Leslie, and was a dedicated fan of the Barcelona soccer team.

A week after his funeral, his aunt Caroline Vizental wrote on Facebook, “It’s been a week since we parted from you but we didn’t really part. How can we say goodbye to you, from your smile and from your saying, ‘Carolina, enough!'”

“I can’t believe that around the holiday table, birthdays and just any family gatherings we will be fewer, I can’t believe that they took you from us in a second,” she wrote. “We received you as a gift, but we didn’t get to enjoy you. It was too short! I promise you to look after everyone, and ourselves, together, and to be strong and keep laughing, including at your nonsense.”

Several months later, she shared a painting of Segev, writing: “This is how we will always remember you our beautiful child, our Segev, with a crazy smile and the deepest gaze that was only yours.”

His friend Oz David wrote on Instagram that Segev was a devoted fan of the Barcelona soccer team, and when they served together in the Navy, “even when we would go out to sea he would find a way to get the results of the games from the shore. He wanted to get a tattoo of Barca but sadly he never got to.” Oz wrote that Segev “was a really wonderful kid who never did anything bad to anyone, and just wanted to go out to party — trance music festivals and Barca were his two great loves in life.”

His mother, Tali, told The Australian that one of his friends who survived the attack took the Star of David pendant that he always wore from his body and gave it to his family.

“He got [the pendant] for his bar mitzvah and he never took it off, but his friends brought it back to us with his own blood still on it,” she said. “He was not armed, they just slaughtered him.”

Tali later told a memorial Instagram page that Segev knew how to “set a goal and achieve it. I was very proud to see him take control as a big brother.” She added that “everything with Segev turned into magic. His charisma and his wit, his deep humor, turned every family gathering, every car drive, every trip abroad into an experience. His half smile after he said some hilarious sentence — is what is most missed.”

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