American-Israeli dual national Judith (Judy) Weinstein, 70, was confirmed Thursday to have been murdered by Hamas during its October 7 terror attack, not taken hostage as previously thought.
Hamas has possession of her body, along with that of her husband, Gad Haggai, 73, who was likewise thought to have been taken hostage until being confirmed dead earlier in December.
Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Weinstein and Haggai lived, issued a statement Thursday:
With great sorrow Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Judy Weinstein.
Judy was 70 years old, and was a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz. She was a mother of 4, and grandmother of 7.
Judy was an English teacher, who specialized in teaching children with special needs. For the past few years she has also taught Mindfulness to children and teenagers who suffered from anxiety caused by the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza.
Judy was a poet, entrepreneur, and pursued many initiatives to advance peace in the region.
Judy was fatally wounded during the massacre on October 7th, and her death has now been confirmed. Her husband, Gad Haggai, 72, was also murdered on October 7th. Their bodies remain held in captivity by Hamas.
Judy was an Israeli- American-Canadian triple national, and Gad was an Israeli-American dual national.
They leave behind 2 daughters and 2 sons.
May Judy’s memory be a blessing.
The Times of Israel reported:
Haggai and Weinstein, both dual Israeli-American citizens, were on their morning walk when gunfire erupted and missiles streaked across the sky on October 7.
Taking cover in a field, they could hear a recorded voice from an alert system for their kibbutz in southern Israel.
…
Weinstein shared [a] 40-second video clip in a group chat that morning, when Hamas invaded Nir Oz during its terror onslaught, in the couple’s last contact with their family.
As Breitbart News reported, Haggai was confirmed dead earlier this month, though Weinstein was still thought to be a hostage.
Breitbart News visited Kibbutz Nir Oz last month, one of the hardest-hit communities, where a quarter of residents were abducted or murdered by Hamas. The survivors are being housed in a hotel in Eilat, and will soon be moved to temporary homes near the town of Kiryat Gat in the western Negev.
There are still thought to be 128 Israeli hostages in Gaza, most of whom are men.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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