Yesterday morning (Sunday), the IDF spokesperson announced that the IDF and Shin Bet located and recovered the bodies of hostages Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lubanov, and Sgt. First Class Ori Danino, after they were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Following an identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Israel Police, and the Military Rabbinate, the Hostage Support Team in the IDF Personnel Directorate, responsible for supporting the families, informed the families.
This evening, the funerals of Almog, Ori, Alexander, and Eden took place, attended by thousands who came to embrace the families.
In Ra’anana, thousands attended the funeral of Almog Sarusi (26). Almog is survived by his parents, Yigal and Nira, two brothers, Amit and Lahav, and a sister, Shaked.
Almog’s siblings arrived at the funeral wearing shirts that read “Bring them home now.” Almog’s mother, Nira, eulogized him: “Thank you to everyone who is here. My dear son, my beloved. How much we prayed to hug you, to see your smile. We hoped to see you happy, surrounded by family and friends, but you were abandoned, day after day. You were abandoned on the altar of Hamas’ destruction, the Philadelphi Route, Rafah. You and hundreds of others. I hope we are the last. There needs to be a deal to free the hostages. Almog, return to the arms of your beloved and your friends. We love you so much. You will forever be engraved in our hearts.”
His sister, Shaked, eulogized: “My Almog, 11 months you held on. I can’t believe this happened. I was so waiting for you to come back, so wanted you to start a family, but it didn’t happen. Now you are with your beloved Shachar. I’m sorry, this wasn’t supposed to happen to you. My Almogi, I promise you that we will continue to be strong. I promise everyone will know who you were. The guy with the kind eyes, who looks at others before himself. You were my role model, my best friend. You were my hero, and now you’re a hero of an entire country. There must not be more heroes like this. I will fight to bring all the hostages home.”
His brothers, Amit and Lahav, eulogized: “Almog, our big brother, we can’t believe we’re standing here. All 11 months we were optimistic, but God thought otherwise. You were our role model. You were always there for us and protected us, and now you’re watching over us from above. We will always remember you.”
The IDF liaison officer with the family also eulogized Almog and apologized to him and the family: “I failed in the mission to bring Almog back to his family,” he said. “After October 7th, I came to the family and reported to them that Almog was kidnapped but alive. Before that, Yigal, the father, received a message that Almog was murdered, but he didn’t believe it and asked to see his son’s body. When they took him to see the body, it turned out to be someone else. I promised the family I would bring Almog back alive, but I didn’t succeed in the mission.”
Simultaneously with the funeral in Ra’anana, the funerals of Ori Danino, Alexander Lubanov, and Eden Yerushalmi also took place. Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef called during Ori’s funeral to “do everything to free the hostages, even to release hundreds and thousands of murderous terrorists with blood on their hands. That’s what needs to be done.”
Ori’s brother, Aharon, eulogized: “How do you even start? How do you approach such a situation? You always said, ‘Smile, life is better that way.’ But I ask myself: Am I allowed to smile? Is life really better? In the last 330 days, I haven’t found a reason to smile, I haven’t found anything to hold onto or anyone to rely on, except for God. You were the pillar of the house, of the friends, and of me. You always made sure I felt safe, secure, that no matter what – you would always be there to help and protect.
“Your smile was the best thing that ever happened to me, and today it’s my nightmare. I see it everywhere and can’t stop crying. Your smile was your signature. I remember in fifth grade, when you were in basic training, and I moved to a new school and wasn’t accepted there. I didn’t feel like I belonged, didn’t feel in the right place. Three hours’ drive away, you stood at the school gate and hugged me so tight, that hug lives with me to this day. You always made sure I felt good about myself and others. You always made me believe. You were my shield, my comforting embrace, and you were everything to me. You were the light in my dark places and my partner in the journey of life. You chose to always put yourself last, chose to save others even when you were outside.”
“You were always there for them, even though you needed a hug yourself. There’s nothing I miss more than your loud morning toothbrushing, the coffee, and the party songs, the late-night conversations.” Eti, his aunt, eulogized: “Ori, take care of Grandpa and Grandma, we’re asking for your forgiveness that we didn’t do enough. Everyone came to pay you their last respects, everyone heard you. Two-year-old children prayed for you. I swore every morning I prayed, sorry, sorry Ori, sorry from us.”
Eden’s mother eulogized: “I’m sorry. We prayed, we wanted to believe it wasn’t true. This is not how I imagined your end. I wanted to have you back alive; so many people wanted to know you – but not like this. Sorry we couldn’t save you.”
Anton, Alexander’s brother, eulogized: “All these days, I believed I would see you. You always had a big smile on your face, and I loved advising you and guiding you. Now, after 331 days, I see you here. You left a lot of good things in this world; I remember all the stand-ups and the laughs.” Michal, Alexander’s wife, said: “Love of my life, we swore until death do us part. So how did it separate us? I’m speaking about you in the past tense. God takes the best. I want to focus on you, on your love of life, on the freedom that was taken from you by those scoundrels on October 7th.”
