Who were Judi Weinstein and Gadi Haggai? Bodies of US-Israeli couple recovered from Gaza Strip

The bodies of two elderly US-Israeli hostages have been recovered during a “special operation” conducted by Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, and Israeli troops, in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. Judi Weinstein, 70, and Gadi Haggai, 73, were abducted by Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. A year ago, they were confirmed to have been killed.

This undated photo provided by Hostage’s Family Forum shows Israeli hostage Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai, whose bodies have been recovered from Gaza by Israeli security forces. (Hostage’s Family Forum via AP)(AP)

“Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts ache for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed,” Netanyahu announced on X.

“The heart grieves for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed,” he added, thanking the “fighters and commanders” for the “successful execution” of bringing their remains home. He also vowed to “not rest or be silent until we bring all our captives home — the living and the dead alike.”

Who were Judi Weinstein and Gadi Haggai?

Weinstein and Haggai were ambushed and abducted by Hamas terrorists while the couple were taking an early morning walk near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, about 4 miles from the Gaza border, on October 7, 2023. Weinstein called one of the kibbutz members for help shortly before being abducted, saying she had been shot in the arm, and Haggai in the head. The couple had deep ties to New York, the New York Post reported.

Weinstein was a retired English teacher who worked with special needs children. She even managed to text her daughter in Singapore to tell her what was happening at home. A paramedic said Weinstein called for medical help too, but they eventually lost contact with her. “Paramedics tried to send her an ambulance. The ambulance got hit by a rocket,” the paramedic told the Times of Israel.

The same day, Weinstein succumbed to her injuries. Hamas later took her body and Haggai into Gaza. Haggai was a retired chef and jazz musician.

Kibbutz Nir Oz revealed over a month after the attack that the Israel Defense Forces informed Haggai’s family that he had been killed in captivity. Their bodies remained with their captors until Thursday, June 5.

Haggai’s mother was born and raised in Manhattan and his father was from Detroit. Weinstein was a native of Goshen in upstate New York. The couple moved to Israel 30 years ago. The two met in the 1970s while volunteering in Israel, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. The group, in an X post, remembered Weinstein for her “passion for meditation and mindfulness and being an educator used it to help children with special needs and attention difficulties in her community.”

In another post, theBring Them Home Now X account shared a statement from the couple’s families.”The return of Judi and Gadi is painful and heartbreaking, yet it also brings healing to our uncertainty. Their return reminds us all that it is the state’s duty to bring everyone home, so that we, the families, together with all the people of Israel, can begin the process of healing and recovery,” the statement read.

It added, “Decision-makers must do everything necessary to reach an agreement that will return all 56 remaining hostages—the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial. There is no need to wait another 608 agonizing days for this. The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want. We want to emphasize today—a grave is not a privilege. A grave is a basic human right, without which personal and national recovery is impossible.”

Weinstein and Haggai are survived by two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren.