Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Thousands mourn as slain hostage Itzik Elgarat laid to rest in Kibbutz Nir Oz

He was abducted from his home on Oct. 7, 2023 and murdered in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Itzik Elgarat
The funeral service of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, March 3, 2025. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90.

Itzik Elgarat, who was murdered while in Hamas captivity in Gaza and whose body was returned to Israel last week, was laid to rest at Kibbutz Nir Oz on Monday.

As the funeral procession set out from Rishon LeZion toward Nir Oz, Itzik’s brother Dani recited the Kaddish. Along the route to the kibbutz, thousands stood with Israeli flags to pay their respects.

The funeral in Nir Oz was also attended by thousands.

Eulogies were delivered by his brother Dani, his sister Rachel Danzig—who survived the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre—his nephews Amit, Tor and Mor, his niece Reut Goldstein and The Democrats chairman Yair Golan.

Elgarat, 69, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7. He was on the phone with his brother Dani when he was taken captive. He is survived by his two children.

Joshua Marks is a news editor on the Jerusalem desk at JNS.org, where he covers Jewish affairs, the Middle East and global news.
“At a time when some would isolate Israeli academia, UCLA has chosen collaboration,” Eveline Shekhman of the American Jewish Medical Association told JNS.
“The juxtaposition of us being at the United Nations, and all those people walking out while literally their employees helped to perpetuate Oct. 7 was put in a certain frame,” Rabbi Steven Burg of Aish told JNS.
“I want you to listen to my words carefully: One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty,” the Israeli prime minister said.
Jason Brodsky, of United Against Nuclear Iran, told JNS that the address carried messages to “the international community, antisemites abroad, state threats against Israel and most especially the Iranian people.”