Ofir Libstein

Ofir Libstein was born in 1973 in Eilat

Libstein was born in Eilat, where his parents lived because of his father's military service. When he was 4, the family returned to Kfar Netter. He studied at the WIZO Canada Hadassim children's village.

He served in the IDF as a medic and as an instructor in the Medical Corps.

He worked on setting up e-commerce sites. In 2007 he and his wife founded the Darom Adom festival, and that year he joined the regional council. In 2017 he became head of the Kibbutz Industries Association, and he also chaired Habonim Dror.

In 2018 he was elected head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, defeating Nira Shpak with 68.31% of the vote. During his term 40 companies moved to a new enterprise zone, and with Sderot he planned the Arazim industrial zone near the Erez crossing for workers from Gaza.

He was married to Vered, had four children and lived in Kfar Aza. On October 7, 2023, he was killed fighting Hamas militants with the local security team, and his son Nitzan was also killed. A planned Negev community was named Ofir after him.