Moving from house to house, they helped evacuate civilians while exchanging fire with terrorists.
By Hezy Laing
On October 7, 2023, as news of the Hamas assault spread across Israel, two brothers from the Judean settlement of Otniel made a decision that would define their lives.
They heard of the massacre unfolding in Kibbutz Be’eri, more than 100 kilometers away, and chose not to remain bystanders.
On the morning of Simchat Torah Elchanan Kalmanson grabbed his gun, and together with his brother Menachem and nephew Itiel, a special forces reserve officer, made their way towards the scene of some of the fiercest battles.
Without hesitation, they drove south through chaos and uncertainty, determined to stand alongside the residents under attack.
The journey itself was perilous.
Roads were clogged with fleeing civilians, and reports of ambushes made every kilometer dangerous.
Yet the brothers pressed forward, guided by a sense of duty and solidarity.
Their decision was not born of military orders but of conviction: that fellow Israelis were fighting for survival, and they could not ignore the call.
What came to be known as Team Kalmanson arrived at the gate of Beeri to scenes of devastation and bedlam.
Houses were burning, families were trapped, and terrorists were still inside the kibbutz.
Elchanan commandeered an IDF armored vehicle and together with his brother and nephew entered Beeri taking on massive fire.
The brothers then joined small ad‑hoc defense teams already engaged in firefights.
Moving from house to house, they helped evacuate civilians while exchanging fire with terrorists.
Their familiarity with close‑quarters combat, honed through years of reserve service, proved critical in the narrow streets and courtyards of the kibbutz.
They began residents barricaded in their homes.
They repeated this dozens of times non-stop over a 15-hour period, saving the lives of dozens perhaps even hundreds of civilians and soldiers alike.
The battle was brutal.
Hamas terrorists had entrenched themselves in homes, using residents as shields.
The Kalmanson brothers fought alongside soldiers and local defenders to clear buildings, often under heavy fire.
Their courage allowed dozens of families to escape, and their presence bolstered exhausted defenders who had been fighting since dawn.
After hours of battles they decided to try save the family in the last house.
Elchanan led the team through the front door and immediately took fire from a terrorist who’d been hiding inside.
Menachem returned fire and killed the terrorist while being injured himself.
Then Menachem and Itiel retrieved Elchanan from the house and took him to waiting medical teams outside of Beeri.
Sadly, Elchanan died shortly after despite the best efforts of the MDA team on the scene.
By the end of the day, Kibbutz Be’eri bore unimaginable scars, but the intervention of fighters like Team Kalmanson prevented even greater loss.
Their decision to drive over 100 kilometers into danger exemplified the ethos of mutual responsibility that binds Israeli society.
They were not ordered to go; they chose to.
In the aftermath, their actions became a symbol of ordinary citizens rising to extraordinary challenges.
Team Kalmanson’s story is one of resolve, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bond between communities in times of crisis.
