Haim “Haimi” Bennaim, 55, was murdered by Hamas terrorists near Netiv Ha’asara on October 7.
Haim, an avid bike rider, was out cycling early that Saturday morning not far from the moshav he called home. During the desperate search for him, his loved ones found his bike near Netiv Ha’asara, but before discovering his body they feared he had been kidnapped to Gaza. His family continued to search for any sign of him for five days before they were able to locate and identify his body.
His funeral was held on October 18 in Kibbutz Negba. He is survived by his wife, Merav, their three children Noya, Gaia and Bar, as well as his parents, Albert and Galia, and his siblings.
His sister-in-law, Nurit Berger, was also murdered that day, as was his father-in-law’s girlfriend, Marina Almagor.
Haim was a highly regarded landscape architect who worked with his partner at their firm, Studio Indigo, on a variety of public and private projects.
Pnina Rimon, an architect and designer who worked with Haim, wrote on Facebook about their “years of knowing each other and working together.”
Haim “took part in almost every one of my projects. I can no longer seek your advice during every work day — about life and about how to be better. Your kindheartedness and your gentle soul were a stark contrast to your athletic and sturdy body… your creations will stay with us forever. And the song of your life will be heard in the winds between the trees you loved so much and planted in the hearts of so many.”
His friend and fellow cyclist, Aharon Ariel Lavi, wrote on a biking website that Haim only started mountain biking a few years earlier “and quickly became one of the legendary riders of the south… it was hard to keep up with him. When we let him lead it was like a war of attrition, and when we asked him to keep a calm pace he would smile and say he was at his calm pace.”
Lavi described Haim as a “rare person with a huge heart, who turned every ride with him into an event which may have started with a long ride but always ended with a table full of delicacies, beers and long friendly conversations.”
Saed Elias, another fellow cyclist, wrote that he always “looked at you in admiration and said, ‘Wow, this rider is a monster tank with unstoppable legs of steel’… I always said that if that’s what a 55-year-old cyclist looks like then I encouraged myself that I had something to strive and reach for. You were a role model for me as a cyclist and as a person with a huge and wonderful heart.”
Haim’s brother-in-law, Shahar Berger, wrote on Facebook to “my dear and beloved brother-in-law.”
“You were such an optimistic person,” he wrote. “Every Friday night dinner with the extended family you would raise your hands in the air and say, ‘What fun it is that we’re all together.'”
