For three years, Aviv waited for this moment, to celebrate another championship with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Three years in which he commanded soldiers, went to missions in enemy territory, yet he always kept up with the team that he supported.
On July 20th, while he was resting in a camp near Kisufim, while his soldiers were in the area, Aviv could not lie still. He had to get up, put on his vest, take his weapon and his standing order and go to his soldiers to make sure that everything was ok.
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Just before he stepped inside, a bullet pierced the air and also his vest. It directly entered his heart and took the life of a child who only wanted to smile, the child that grew up in Maccabi.
“Aviv was the firstborn in the family and also the grandson, so he was special”, explained his uncle, Noam Levi who was reminded of that cursed Friday: “I was home and the phone rang. My mother was on the line. It was difficult to speak but she was able to tell me the difficult words. We went to the hospital even though the message told us that Aviv was killed.”
They tell of Aviv that he loved almost every extreme sport. But when it comes to ball, from a young age, he loved football. When the family from Petach Tikva was painted yellow, at that point Aviv naturally also became a loyal fan who went with his family to the silver section.
Noam explains, “Aviv was shy, but in conversations in my mother’s (his grandmother’s) living room on Friday nigts, he never hesitated to express himself each time that Maccabi Tel Aviv was mentioned. That was one of the only things that we spoke about.”
“When his siblings were born, Aviv discovered his destiny- to teach his brothers how to play football. Aviv played with his younger siblings regularly. After Aviv was killed, Dan, his younger brother, began to train with my sons at Maccabi. The choice was made because of Aviv’s support for Maccabi. Sadly, Aviv can’t see him playing in his yellow uniform.”
“The family’s support of Maccabi led Aviv to buy season tickets with us from a young age. He didn’t miss games. When Maccabi made it to the champion’s league and played in Sammy Ofer, we bought tickets for all of the games in Haifa and each game was a big experience for Aviv. We would go early and make a fun day of it. On those days, Aviv would not stop smiling.”
“On March 21, 2016, Aviv joined the army and served in the Tzabar battalion of the Givati brigade. Right from the beginning he wanted to be in Givati. We knew that when Aviv sets a goal for himself, he achieves it, and that is what happened. During his service, most of the Maccabi matches were played on Sundays and Mondays so he was not able to go to the stadium to watch the matches yet he did not stop following and getting updates about what was happening with the team.
At the league match vs. Maccabi Haifa that opened the season, the club conducted a ceremony in memory of Aviv. It was very emotional. On one hand the crowd stood and clapped hands in his honor, including the Haifa fans. On the other hand, it was very sad that we came to the match and his seat was empty. He is missed every day and at every moment and certainly at every match when he is not with us. I know that if he knew about the championship that the team won this season, he would be smiling his wide smile. He would be happy like he always was. We miss him.”
