Slain captive Itzik Elgarat buried; brother says Netanyahu dug his grave

Thousands of Israelis headed on Monday to Nir Oz near the Gaza border for the funeral of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat, whose siblings railed against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government and accused them of abandoning their brother to his death in Gaza.

Ahead of the funeral, hundreds lined the streets holding flags, as the funeral procession made its way from the Great Synagogue in Rishon Lezion — where Elgarat was born and where his younger brother Dani lives — to Nir Oz.

As the crowd sang the national anthem, “Hatikva,” Dani Elgarat cried and embraced the coffin, which was wrapped in black cloth.

“You’re going home to Nir Oz,” he said. “I promised to bring you back dead or alive, and now you’re coming home.”

Among the wreaths laid on Elgarat’s grave was a jersey of Maccabi Tel Aviv, his favorite soccer team.

Elgarat was 68 when he was abducted from his home in Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, as thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. He was shot in the hand through the door of his safe room before being dragged away. He is thought to have still been alive in April.

Hamas returned the bodies of Elgarat and three other captives last week as part of Israel’s ceasefire and hostage release deal with the terror group. Shortly after the return of his body, the kibbutz said he had been murdered in captivity. The statement was apparently based on information from the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where Elgarat’s body was initially taken.

Elgarat was survived by two children, a brother, and two sisters. He had lived in Denmark for several years before returning to Nir Oz, and was a dual Danish-Israeli citizen. His children live in Denmark.

His brother Dani Elgarat has been one of Netanyahu’s harshest critics in anti-government, pro-hostage deal protests throughout the war.

At the funeral, Dani Elgarat addressed Itzik: “Today you’re being laid to eternal rest in a grave dug for you by the prime minister himself.”

He slammed Netanyahu for failing to visit Nir Oz, where roughly every fourth member of the 400-odd community was either kidnapped or killed.

“The only solace is that he didn’t sully, with his presence, this holy place, soaked with the blood of [its] members,” said Dani.

He said Itzik’s last words to him, before being abducted, were: “Dani, this is the end, this is the end.”

“Itzik, unfortunately you were right,” Dani said. “You already knew, and we didn’t want to believe it.”

“We fought with all our might to prove you wrong. We failed. We didn’t do enough,” he said. “Netanyahu defeated us and you didn’t return from captivity. The enemy who caused your death was not the one who abducted you, but the one who abandoned you.”

“You managed to survive the kidnapping, the kidnappers, and the injury for many months,” he added. “Netanyahu vanquished you though thwarting [the hostage deal] and abandonment.”

“You were correct that it was the end. But not only of your life. This is also the end of the democratic state that deprived you of your freedom, your dignity, and your human and civil rights. This is the end of the value of solidarity and the value of life in Israeli society — values ​​that distinguished us from our enemy — and now we have become like them,” he continued.

Rachel Dancyg, Itzik Elgarat’s sister, who is also a member of Nir Oz and survived the massacre there, described her brother as “the kibbutz’s handyman.”

“You knew how to fix any damage [and] improvise with exceptional talent,” she said.

She praised his bravery during the massacre.

“You, Itzik, fought them with a fierce heart. They took you alive. I believed so much that you would return alive. You left too soon,” she said. “They tortured you, they starved you, you left in great agony that only bloodthirsty murderers can inflict.”

“We were unable to save you and our friends,” she said. “We were unable to save you from an evil government.”

Several Knesset members were also present at the funeral, including The Democrats MKs Efrat Rayten and Naama Lazimi, National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot, Yesh Atid’s Elazar Stern and Shas’s Yossi Taieb.

The Democrats chair Yair Golan was also present, and delivered a eulogy praising Dani Elgarat for his efforts to bring his brother and the rest of the hostages home.

“Your voice should be heard by all citizens of Israel. It is a voice of sanity and clear goals, a voice of healing,” said Golan.

Itzik Elgarat’s body, along with those of hostages Tsahi Idan, Shlomo Mantzur and Ohad Yahalomi, was returned overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in exchange for 602 Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian prisoners were supposed to be released the previous Saturday in exchange for six living hostages. However, Israel delayed the prisoners’ release in protest of Hamas’s parading of hostages during the handover to the Red Cross. Following Israel’s protest, the terror group handed over the hostages’ bodies without fanfare.

Mantzur, who was killed in the Hamas onslaught, was buried on Sunday in Kibbutz Kissufim. Idan, who was killed in captivity, was buried Friday in Kibbutz Einat, beside his 18-year-old daughter Maayan, who was murdered on October 7, 2023, at their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Both funerals were held privately and preceded by large public processions.

The return of the four captives’ bodies came at the tail end of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase.

That phase, which expired on Saturday after 42 days, saw Hamas release 33 women, children, civilian men over 50 and those deemed “humanitarian cases,” in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including over 270 serving life terms for the murders of dozens of Israelis.

Netanyahu has largely held off on negotiating the second phase, which would see Hamas release the remaining living hostages. The premier’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should it proceed to the second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

Instead, Netanyahu has called for an extension of the first phase — through Ramadan until the end of Passover on April 19 — that would see Hamas release the remaining hostages as the ceasefire continues.