After more than two years in captivity, the body of slain hostage Meny Godard was returned to Israel on Thursday for burial. Godard was murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be’eri and taken into Gaza. His remains were returned after 769 days.
In a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and Kibbutz Be’eri, the Godard family said: “Our father is home. Not the home we hoped for, but the soil of the Land of Israel that he loved so much. He is no longer lying in the cursed streets of Gaza. After 769 days, we can breathe. His pure and innocent body can rest, and we can begin to heal.”
Meny and Ayelet Goddard during Operation Guardian of the Walls
(Video: Courtesy of the family)
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Ayelet and Meny Godard, who were murdered on October 7
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
The family expressed deep gratitude to “the people of Israel who stood by us, the Hostages Families Forum, the IDF, the Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons and all security forces.” They also sent condolences to “all bereaved families who have paid the ultimate price.”
“The return is a sorrowful one. It is the final confirmation of the tragedy that befell us,” the family wrote. “The past few weeks have been unbearably difficult. Now we can begin to rebuild and return to life.” They closed their message with words of solidarity for the remaining hostage families: “To the Gvili, Or and Rinthalak families — we are with you. As our father said, ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’”
The Hostages Families Forum also released a video recorded by Meny and his wife, Ayelet Godard, during the May 2021 “Operation Guardian of the Walls.” In the clip, Ayelet says, “Waiting for the jihad to run out of missiles,” and Meny adds, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
Killed in the Kibbutz attack alongside his wife
On Friday morning, Kibbutz Be’eri said Godard’s return brought closure to a painful 769-day ordeal. According to the kibbutz, on the morning of the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas terrorists set fire to the Godards’ home. The couple tried to flee their safe room, but gunmen were waiting outside. Meny was murdered and abducted. Ayelet managed to hide in the bushes for hours before she was found and killed.
Meny Godard was born in Tel Aviv, the fourth child of Yaakov and Soni. He fell in love with Be’eri at 13, became a top striker for the local Hapoel Be’eri soccer team and later served in the IDF Armored Corps during the Yom Kippur War. After his military service, he worked as a lifeguard, where he met Ayelet. The couple eventually returned to Be’eri and raised their children — Mor, Gal and Bar — and in 2005 adopted Goni. Meny managed the kibbutz pool for many years and was a beloved figure in the community.
During the war, Bar, one of the Godards’ daughters, said the IDF attempted a rescue operation. “Brave soldiers tried to rescue my father, but it didn’t succeed,” she recalled. “They managed to recover a refrigerator containing evidence of my father.” Only days later did the family learn that both their parents had been killed.
Mor, Meny’s other daughter, said last week: “His return is a sad one. It gives final confirmation to the tragedy we’ve endured. Waiting for that knock at the door was unbearable. Now we can begin to recover.”
On the morning of the attack, their son Goni, who was in the youth dorms, tried to reach his parents’ home amid smoke and corpses. He tied a white shirt around his head to look like a terrorist, armed himself with a knife and rode his bicycle toward the house. “It was instinct,” he said. “I just wanted to save them.”
In an interview before learning of his father’s return, Goni said: “My father was someone you could call any time, day or night. Unconditional love. Something rare.”
First published: 20:39, 11.14.25