Nir Maman, 47-48, was born in Israel and moved to Canada with his family when he was young. After finishing high school, Maman returned to Israel to join the army, and eventually served as a commando instructor with an “elite counter-terrorism unit,” according to The Canadian Jewish News (CJN).

Maman’s LinkedIn profile lists a wide range of military, combat and policing jobs, including stints as a police constable in Prince Edward Island, a Toronto Transit Commission special constable, an Ontario peace officer, a deputy sheriff in Georgia, and a police officer on a reserve in the United States. Maman also states that he has worked as a bodyguard, a Krav Maga instructor and in specialized hostage rescue positions.

Prior to Oct. 7, 2023, Maman was last deployed with the Israeli army in the late 2000s, and lived in Toronto. After that day’s events, Maman decided to return to the army, but had to convince them to allow him to do so.

In November 2023, he was deployed with Unit 5060, a “light infantry reserve battalion in Hebron” where he was “manning checkpoints, hunting for terrorist cells and conducting raids,” according to CJN. Maman said, “Every night we are going out on arrest missions. We are kicking in doors of Hamas terrorist homes.” He claims that his unit has nicknamed him Thanos.

Maman told CJN that taking part in the war has made him “more connected to our religion, to our roots, to our purpose.” He added, “You go to a pro-Israel protest and our people say, ‘We just want peace for everybody. We just want, that’s it, for the Palestinians, and for us and for everybody.’ You go to their protest, they just want death for everybody. And so, our values are very special, they’re very unique.”

While back in Canada on a furlough, Maman was requested to return to Israel immediately as his unit was going to be entering Gaza. Maman has documented his experience in the army on Instagram.

(A version of this mini-bio was originally published in a November 2024 article at The Maple.)