E-Paper
Jewish couple with NY ties was ambushed by Hamas, their niece now seeks US' help: ‘Want to believe that they are alive’
Gadi Haggai, 73, and Judih Weinstein Haggai, 70, were walking in the morning outside Kibbutz Nir Oz early on October 7 when they were attacked by Hamas
Relatives of an elderly Jewish couple, who have deep ties to New York, are desperately searching for them. Gadi Haggai, 73, and Judih Weinstein Haggai, 70, dual US-Israel citizens, are among hundreds victims of Hamas terrorists.
Gadi and Judih were walking in the morning outside Kibbutz Nir Oz early on October 7 when they were ambushed by Hamas. The armed terrorists attacked them on motorcycles. “We know that they were badly wounded. We know that [Judih] still had the phone with her to be able to call and ask for help and provide details. But ever since then, we lost all contact with them,” the couple’s niece, Ofri Haggai, 47, told New York Post. “We have no idea what happened to them.”
Ofri arrived at her aunt’s native home in Orange County, New York, in an attempt to seek help from local politicians and find out what happened to the couple. “We need the help of the American people,” she said.
Ofri said that her uncle and aunt “are not part of any conflict.” “They are not part of any war. Not the elderly, not the babies, not the mothers, not the young people. They all need to be brought home,” she said.
‘My aunt managed to call the Kibbutz for a medic’
Gadi’s mother was born and raised in Manhattan, and her father is from Detroit. Judih is a native of upstate Goshen. They moved to Israel 30 years ago.
Despite being surrounded by the terrorists and “shot and badly wounded,” Judih managed to text her daughter. That was the last time anyone heard from them. “My aunt managed to call the Kibbutz for a medic, to ask for help — a help that never came because the terrorists were already in the Kibbutz,” Ofri said.
Ofri said that the terrorists shot out the tires “so no one can get any help from the ambulance.” Her aunt’s phone was later found. Ofri now hopes the couple is among hundreds of people being held hostage, and not among those who were killed.
Ofri arrived in the US nad met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), to seek help. Pat, a US Army vet with two tours of duty in Iraq under his belt, said, “For me, the big thing really was she just kept saying, ‘Don’t forget, don’t forget. We can’t forget. And that very much has stuck with me.”
‘Our rule always was you never leave a fallen brother or sister behind’
“I served 27 months in combat,” he continued. “Our rule always was you never leave a fallen brother or sister behind. You never leave a fallen comrade behind. From West Point to combat, that has been drilled into me.”
“My wife is Jewish, so it’s just been very personal for us to make sure that we get every single hostage home, to make sure we do everything we can to bring them home,” the congressman added.
Ofri is hoping her relatives are only being held hostage and will be back home soon. “I’m still talking about them in the present because I still want to believe that they are alive,” she said. “But, really, I don’t know.”
