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Israel war 2023
Published on December 22, 2023
Updated December 22, 2023, 6:18 p.m. ET
An elderly American Israeli with close ties to New York has become the first U.S. citizen confirmed to have been killed while being held hostage by Hamas terrorists, it was announced Friday.
According to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, which represents the families, Gadi Haggai, 73, was murdered by the terrorist group, which is believed to still be holding his 70-year-old wife, Judih Weinstein.
“Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the family group told the Times of Israel.
“A musician at heart, a gifted flautist, he played in the IDF orchestra and was involved in music throughout his life.”
Haggai, whose mother was born and raised in Manhattan and whose father is from Detroit, and Weinstein, who is from Goshen, New York, moved to Israel 30 years ago to seek solace in the Jewish state – until Hamas carried out a surprise terrorist attack October 7th destroyed their peaceful existence.
The couple had been taking their usual walk outside Kibbutz Nir Oz when armed Hamas fighters on motorcycles ambushed them that morning, relatives said.
Kibbutz Nir Oz said Friday that Israeli forces had informed Haggai's family that he had been murdered.
His body is still in the hands of her captors in Palestinian territory; Weinstein's fate remains unknown.
Relatives of the couple had frantically searched for their loved ones after the October 7 attack. Haggai family
On the day they were attacked, Weinstein managed to call one of the kibbutz members for help, saying she was shot in the arm and wounded in the face, and Haggai was shot in the head, according to Haaretz.
Shortly before the couple was believed to have been taken hostage, Weinstein was also able to text her daughter in Singapore. A paramedic later told the couple's children that she had called for medical help – but they had lost contact with her.
“She said they were shot by terrorists on a motorcycle and my father was really badly injured,” Iris Weinstein Haggai told the Times of Israel.
Judih Weinstein Haggai and her husband Gadi Haggai were taking their morning walk near Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were ambushed by radical Hamas terrorists during the attack on Israel. AP
“Paramedics tried to send her an ambulance. The ambulance was hit by a rocket.”
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The family had not heard from the elderly couple since then.
“We know they were seriously wounded. We know that [Weinstein] still had the phone with him so he could call and ask for help and give details. But since then we have lost all contact with them,” the couple’s niece, Ofri Haggai, 47, told The Post last month.
The phone was found hours later by the Israeli military – raising hopes that the couple may have been among the more than 220 Israelis taken hostage during the brutal attack rather than those killed, she added.
It is believed that 70-year-old Judi is still being held captive. AP
The search to find out what happened to her relatives took Ofri Haggai, a global human resources manager in Israel, all the way to her aunt's hometown of Orange County, New York, to seek the help of local politicians.
It remains unclear how officials were able to determine that Gadi Haggai had died in captivity, as Hamas officials do not comment on death reports.
He leaves behind four children and seven grandchildren.
President Biden said in a statement released Friday that he and first lady Jill Biden were “heartbroken” over the news of Haggai's death.
“We continue to pray for the well-being and safe return of his wife, Judy (sic),” Biden said, noting that the couple's daughter had been involved in a phone call with the hostages' families just last week.
“Today we pray for their four children, seven grandchildren and other loved ones and grieve with them over this tragic news.”
He further reiterated his promise to the remaining hostages and their families that the government “will not stop working to bring them home.”
According to official Israeli figures, 129 people are still held captive in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli government, 22 of them are dead.
The forum said between five and 10 of the hostages had U.S. citizenship. The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment.
With post wires
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