First American to die in Hamas captivity has NY ties; wife remains held by terrorists

Original Source: New York Post
By Melissa Koenig
Published Dec. 22, 2023

An elderly American Israeli with deep ties to New York has become the first US citizen confirmed to have died while being held hostage by Hamas terrorists, it was announced Friday.

Gadi Haggai, 73, was murdered by the terrorists who are still thought to be holding his 70-year-old wife, Judi Weinstein, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum representing the families.

“Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the families group told the Times of Israel.

“A musician at heart, a gifted flautist, he played in the IDF Orchestra and was involved with music his whole life.”

Kibbutz Nir Oz also said Friday the Israeli Defense Forces informed Haggai’s family that he had been murdered.

His body is still in the Palestinian territory.

Weinstein managed to call one of the kibbutz members for help, saying she had been shot in the arm and was wounded in the face and Gadi had been shot in his head, according to Haaretz.

She was also able to text her daughter in Singapore, and a paramedic later told the couple’s children that Weinstein had called for medical help — but they lost contact with her.

“She said they were shot by terrorists on a motorcycle and that my dad was wounded really bad,” Iris Weinstein Haggain told the Times of Israel.

“Paramedics tried to send her an ambulance. The ambulance got hit by a rocket.”

The family had not heard from the elderly couple since.

“We know that they were badly wounded. We know that [Weinstein] 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 The Post last month.

Stay on top of news out of the Israel-Hamas war and the global surge in antisemitism with The Post’s Israel War Update, delivered right to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The phone was found hours later by the Israeli military — raising hope that the couple might have been among the more than 220 Israelis taken hostage during the brutal assault, instead of among those killed, Ofri said.

The quest to find out what happened to her relatives brought Ofri, a global human resources manager in Israel, all the way to her aunt’s native Orange County, New York, home to seek the help of local politicians.

It remains unclear how officials were able to determine he had died in captivity, as Hamas officials do not comment on the death reports.

Gadi, whose mother was born and raised in Manhattan and whose father is from Detroit, and Judi, a native of upstate Goshen, moved to Israel 30 years ago, seeking solace in the Jewish state — until the unexpected horror struck them last month.

He leaves behind four children and seven grandchildren.

According to Israel’s official tally, 129 people are still in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Of those, 22 are dead, the Israeli government says.

The forum said that between five and 10 of the hostages hold US citizenship. The US Embassy had no immediate comment.