Hundreds of mourners gathered Monday afternoon to lay to rest Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted from his home on October 7 and whose remains were returned to Israel after 509 days in captivity. He was buried in Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community from which he was taken.
Earlier in the day, thousands assembled outside the Great Synagogue in Rishon Lezion, waving Israeli flags and paying their respects before joining the funeral procession that departed the city in the morning and reached the kibbutz in southern Israel by midday.
Itzik Elgarat's funeral procession
(Video: Meir Turgeman)
Elgart’s sister, Rachel Dancyg, eulogized him with a moving tribute. “Itzik, my dear brother, now you are up there with Eli, Uri, Mom and Dad, watching over us, sending love. I am here below, a survivor from Kibbutz Nir Oz. I love you all. The Elgart family is well known—an unusual family, a family of artists, talented, leading and beloved. You, Itzik, were the kibbutz’s handyman. You could fix anything, improvise with extraordinary skill.”
Reflecting on their lives in the community, she recalled, “Eli, Itzik and I arrived at Kibbutz Nir Oz in the 1970s, after our military service. We gave so much of ourselves, and we received so much—until it all ended. The land became a field of blood and slaughter. The army didn’t come. They took you, and they took Alex Dancyg, the father of my children, into dark tunnels, into hell. You never returned. We failed to save you and our friends. So many of our loved ones vanished that day—murdered, abducted, children taken, complete devastation. None of us remain.”
Elgarat’s brother, Danny, who fought tirelessly for his release, also delivered an emotional eulogy. “My brother, you have come home. I promised I would bring you back, and I kept that promise. I am sure you feel at home now—you have returned to Nir Oz. Itzik, sadly, you were right. Your last words before you were taken, bleeding, were ‘Danny, this is the end.’ You already knew, but we refused to believe. We fought with all our strength to prove you wrong. We failed. We didn’t do enough.”
Before the funeral procession left Rishon Lezion, mourners approached Danny to offer their condolences. “I’m so sorry that we received Itzik in a coffin—that he did not come back alive,” one woman told him.
Danny, a civics teacher at a local high school, expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support. “I am overwhelmed by what I see here,” he said, thanking Rishon Lezion’s mayor, whom he called “a true leader.” He added, “We will continue until the last hostage comes home.”
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In a particularly emotional moment, Danny embraced his brother’s casket, wrapped in a black shroud, and wept. The crowd sang Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, as Danny addressed Itzik one final time: “You are returning home now, to the land of Nir Oz. I promised to bring you back—alive or dead—and now you are home.”
As the funeral procession continued toward Nir Oz, where Elgart was laid to rest, the struggle to bring home the remaining hostages carried on.
Rishon Lezion Mayor Raz Kinstlich also paid tribute to Elgart. “This is not how we wanted to welcome you home, Itzik. Our hearts are aching. Thousands have come to salute you and bid you farewell. Itzik endured 509 days in Hamas captivity—in hell on earth. A father of two daughters, a brother to Danny and his sisters, Itzik was taken from the safe room in Nir Oz. His brother Danny fought to bring him home.”