Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave
Omer Balva, a 22-year-old Rockville native, was home from his home in Israel. Then, during his US vacation earlier this month, Hamas stormed southern Israel, kidnapping hundreds and killing more than 1,000. Balva’s reserve infantry unit in the Israel Defense Forces quickly recalled him.
But before he returned, he wanted to gather supplies that he knew the soldiers in his unit might need. So he and his friend Ethan Missner, who has known Balva since they were 7 students at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, went shopping. They purchased knee pads, elbow pads, earmuffs and other supplies for the Alexandroni Brigade’s 9203rd Battalion, Missner recalled. The two spent Balvas’ last night in the U.S. staying with Missner’s parents in Potomac, stuffing a duffel bag full of gear.
A week later, Balva was dead. The Israeli-American was killed Friday by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon by the militant group Hezbollah while his unit was serving on that country’s border with Israel, the IDF confirmed.
“He was such a loving person,” said Missner, 23. “He brought a lot of light into the world.”
Balva, who grew up with three siblings in a Maryland suburb of Washington, was among the 360,000 reservists called up by the Israeli military to fight Hamas. After graduating high school in 2019, Balva moved to Israel with his parents, enrolled and enrolled at Reichman University, Missner said.
The couple stayed in touch after Balva was deployed to the Israeli border.
“He said that he could hear bombs going off at night and that he could hardly sleep,” Missner said. “But on par with who Omer is, he was more concerned with how his family was doing, his girlfriend, me. “He didn’t want people to be sad about him.”
Hezbollah rockets are flying on Israel’s northern border and civilians are fleeing
The Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School community – including alumni, students, faculty and staff – was “completely devastated and heartbroken” to learn of Balva’s death, Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, head of the school, said in a statement, per E – Statement sent by email.
“Omer was a beloved student,” Malkus said. “He was an unabashed supporter of the State of Israel. He is a hero for the State of Israel, the Jewish people and the school. We mourn him.”
Classmate Emma Hoch, 23, remembers Balva as “vivacious,” the kind of person who lit up any room he entered. After learning of his death from a family friend, Hoch said she rewatched a series of videos Balva had posted on YouTube cataloging her senior trip to Israel. In one, Balva interviews his classmates as they tour the sights of Jerusalem, dropping a few hip-hop rhymes along the way.
“Omer had a very infectious laugh and was just full of love,” said Hoch, a Gaithersburg resident. “This is just absolutely heartbreaking.”
Hoch said Balva was proud of his Israeli roots, which he detailed in a class presentation about his family, which still lives online. In it, Balva shared that his father’s family had lived in the Israeli city of Tiberias since the 14th century and his grandmother had survived the many subsequent wars in Israel. Balva said his father, Eyal Balva, immigrated to the United States in 1996 to join his brothers and start his own business. Balva said he plans to raise his children in Israel and has a “passion” to protect the country.
When Balva enlisted at 18, he wrote Missner a letter to remind him of everything they had shared as children and what they had to look forward to as men – marriage, children, a life full of memories.
“He wrote that when times are tough, he imagines us at 24 or 25 years old, on vacation with our families and just being together. … That’s the one thought that always put a smile on his face because he wanted to start a family from an early age,” Missner said.
Balva’s family could not immediately be reached for comment. His father is the CEO of Floranation, a Landover, Maryland-based company that imports flowers, and Eyal Balva commutes between the U.S. and Israel, Missner said.
The Israeli army has deployed forces along the border with Lebanon, about 180 kilometers from Gaza, amid exchanges of fire on both sides. Balva’s unit was stationed there.
Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff contributed to this report.