Amiram Cooper

Amiram Cooper was born in 1938 in Haifa

Amiram Cooper was born in Haifa in 1938. His father Yisrael was a guard and his mother Sara was a seamstress. He was a member of Hashomer Hatzair and wrote for a youth weekly.

In 1953 he began studying at the Kadoorie Agricultural School, where he finished high school. He later earned a master's degree in agricultural economics and administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and studied for a doctorate at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

He was among the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz in the western Negev and was elected to its management in 1961. He held farming roles, coordinated the kibbutz economy and managed the Nirlat factory. For 24 years he was finance and control manager at the Hevel Maon enterprises until he retired.

In the early 1960s he wrote the song "Shibolei Paz", set to music by Yaakov Sagi, which became linked with Shavuot. He published poetry books including "Shirim BaStav" in 1974 and "Shirim MiSefer HaMidbar" in 2015, and set many of his own poems to music. He was married to Nurit and they had 3 children.

On October 7, 2023, he and Nurit were kidnapped from Nir Oz to Gaza. She was released after 17 days, and he was killed in Hamas captivity on February 12, 2024. His body was returned to Israel on October 30, 2025.