Family, friends, and supporters gathered to pay their final respects to Itzhak Elgarat, who was killed in Hamas captivity and laid to rest on Monday in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Crowds gathered to stand along the side of the road and accompany Elgarat’s coffin, holding flags and carrying signs.
Elgarat’s brother, Danny, who has been one of the faces of the families’ fight to bring the hostages home, spoke at the funeral, harshly criticizing the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Danny said his brother was “vanquished” by the prime minister, as Elgarat had managed to survive his captors, the injury he sustained on October 7, and many months of captivity, but not Netanyahu. The prime minister abandoned Elgarat, torpedoing hostage deals for the sake of personal political gain, Danny added.
Netanyahu, “The prime minister who dug your grave is the same prime minister afraid to come to your home, Nir Oz, and face the results of the abandonment,” he said.
The country turned its back on you
“Your coffin is wrapped in the flag of the country that you loved so much, and that turned its back on you,” he said.
Danny, who has been wearing a yellow star for months, drawing a connection between October 7 and the Holocaust, emphasized that Nir Oz has been through a holocaust and that his brother should have the star. He then placed it on his brother’s coffin.
“My brother, forgive me, forgive me for failing to bring you back alive. I must not have done enough. I was not able to bring the whole nation to rise up and save you and the other hostages,” Danny said, adding, “Netanyahu beat me in the fight for all the hostages.”
Danny touched on his brother’s last words to him on October 7. While on the phone, with one of his hands severely wounded, Elgarat tried to hold the door to his shelter shut to keep the terrorists out when he called out, “Danny, it’s the end. Danny, it’s the end.”
“I’m sorry. You were right,” his brother said. “You already knew it. We didn’t want to believe.”
“We fought as hard as we could to prove you were wrong,” Danny added, saying that not only was it the end for his brother but for the country.
A country that does not save its hostages [and does not engage in] pidyon shvuyim (the mitzvah of redeeming captives) is no longer a Jewish state, he said, adding that a country that abandoned its captives is also no longer democratic.
“This is where mutual responsibility ends,” he said.
Danny promised his brother that he would not stop fighting for the remaining hostages and for the country.
“My brother, you came home. I promised you I would bring you home, and I kept that promise. Promises must be kept,” he said. “I know you feel at home. You came back to Nir Oz.”
Elgarat’s sister, Rachel Danzig, also eulogized her brother, saying that she believed he would come back alive.
She called on her brother and all her other “friends up above” to “watch over us,” adding that “living down here is an unending nightmare that won’t be over until all the hostages – living and dead – come back to us.”
Danzig called for the formation of an official state inquiry on October 7, promising her brother that she would not give up.
“Thank you for the love and support you gave to my children and grandchildren,” she said, adding that his love would always be with her.
Former IDF deputy chief of staff and Democrats Party head Yair Golan spoke at the funeral.
“On October 7, we watched our world crumble around us. First, it was destroyed by Hamas terrorists, and then, day after day, our own government continued to destroy it, as people like you, Itzhak, were abandoned to die,” he said.
“And our hearts broke when we realized that the fundamental covenant between the state and its citizens, between the government and its people – had been violated. This covenant continues to be trampled upon with a heavy foot, with a hardened heart.”
Golan added that the fracture was created by people and will be mended by people. “The rebuilding of our beloved country will be done by people – by Israeli citizens, by good citizens – much better than this government of disaster and malice.”
Kibbutz Nir Oz previously described Elgarat as “an integral part of the social scene.”
He loved “to hang out at the local pub, host friends, and connect people of all ages with each other. He was renowned for his great love of soccer and backgammon, and he starred in local games, always with a smile and good spirit.”
“Itzhak left behind two children, a brother and two sisters. We will remember him for his laughter, huge heart, and willingness to always be there for anyone in need,” the kibbutz said.