The Unmaking of a hero: Did Rami Davidian save tens or hundreds of Israelis on October 7th? And does it even matter?

When Hamas unleashed hell on the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, 2023, Rami Davidian didn’t hesitate. A 58-year-old farmer from Moshav Patish, armed with little more than a pickup truck, a farmer’s grit, and a command of Arabic, he drove into the abyss, smoke, gunfire, and terror, to pull survivors from a massacre that claimed 1,200 lives.

He claims he saved hundreds, steering them from certain death with a courage that defies measure. In the 18 months since, Davidian has become a reluctant icon: a torchbearer at Israel’s 2024 Independence Day ceremony, a voice in Sheryl Sandberg’s Screams Before Silence, and a man whose story of selflessness has inspired a wounded nation.

Davidian’s tale isn’t polished: it’s raw, human, and scarred. He’s admitted missteps, like a December 2024 apology on Channel 12 for wrongly claiming Major General Israel Ziv fled Nova, a slip he attributed to PTSD after a survivor’s suicide shook him. Ziv forgave him, and for many, that was enough, a glimpse of a man wrestling with trauma, not deceit.

But last week, everything blew up for Rami.

Channel 13’s The Source, led by Raviv Drucker, prepared a report alleging his accounts were inflated, set to air today. Israel was having none of it!

A promo hinting at “what really happened” sparked outrage online, with #IStandWithRami trending and X users decrying the probe as a smear. “You’re scum,” one wrote to Drucker. “He saved people: leave him be.” Channel 13 caved within days, announcing on April 4, “We are aware of public sentiment and prefer not to air it.” Davidian’s response was characteristically humble: “I never feared [it]. I don’t want disputes… Our role is unity.”

Adva Dadon, who saw Davidian in action, offered a visceral defense. On April 4, she wrote, “I was there. I saw with my own eyes what others only hear about. Rami wasn’t seeking fame: he went in to save lives.” Covering the Nova carnage live, she joined him in the field, broadcasting as he answered desperate calls and worked with the Patish unit to extract survivors. “They later told us they were saved thanks to him,” she recalled. Their shared trauma forged a bond: “The children of those who are gone—I go to sleep with them every night. So does Rami.”

Dadon doesn’t deny he’s amplified his story: “It’s what holds him together,” she said, but his apology for overshadowing others rings true to her. “The truth isn’t online—it’s in the blood, sweat, and tears of those who acted.” Her stance is unwavering: “I’ll stand by him… Thanks to him, many came home.”

The public echoes her. Yosef Haddad hailed him as “an Israeli hero who risked his life,” while Barele Krombi envisioned a heavenly chorus of saved souls greeting Davidian with gratitude: “He rescued me under fire.” Education Minister Yoav Kisch, moved by a survivor’s recent wedding, invited him to the Israel Prize ceremony, saying, “You saved souls in Israel.” Davidian’s team reinforced his quiet resolve: “Many know what I did… I left home to save lives. Some friends died, true martyrs. I couldn’t save others, and that haunts me. I don’t want fights.” He’s stepped back from interviews, letting his deeds speak.

Critics, led by Drucker, argue his tale grew too tall: lectures, fundraisers, and global retellings veering into “invented” territory, sometimes sidelining other rescuers. Drucker called it an “industry” of untruths, insisting his shelved 50-minute report held vital evidence. “These aren’t slight exaggerations,” he wrote on X, lamenting a media that aired “hundreds of lies” but balked at scrutiny. Yet his crusade faltered against a tide of support.

Channel 13’s CEO, Emiliano Kalmazuk, nixed the piece, ignoring Drucker’s plea to watch it, prioritizing “public sentiment” over a reckoning. The backlash drowned out the doubters; one X user warned Drucker, “You could push him to suicide,” a fear that resonates in a nation protective of its wounded.

Davidian’s heroism isn’t in dispute: he saved lives, a fact no promo can erase. If his numbers swelled or tales stretched, they reflect a man grappling with a day that broke him, not a schemer chasing glory. Dadon’s final plea, “Before investigating Rami, probe October 7”, captures the heart of it: a nation still unready to dissect its scars prefers to cradle its heroes. In Israel’s fractured present, Davidian stands not as a flawless saint but as a flawed savior, his truck a lifeline, his story a balm, his silence a call for healing. The truth matters, but the lives he pulled from the fire matter more.

As a journalist, I want to know the truth, to probe until I know what really happened, and to share it with my readers. My fellow journalists are much the same, we hold each other to reporting honestly, even when it hurts.

The truth is about Rami Davidian is that he definitely saved lives and that it's extremely likely he suffers from PTSD. He saw things which would haunt our worst nightmares, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Is he making money off October 7th? Yes, it looks that way. Are some of his stories more exciting and more heroic than the truth? Possibly.

More than that though, his saga mirrors Israel itself, resilient yet fractured, craving unity yet wrestling with doubt. Did he save dozens or hundreds? Did trauma inflate his tale, or did he craft a fiction to cope? The answers, locked in a canned exposé, may never see light. What’s clear is that Israel stands behind him, as well we should.

Arutz Sheva, Behdarei Haredim and Maariv contributed to this article.