Gadi Moses: ‘I live in hope and faith that the houses will rise’
“I have a mission to recreate a vibrant society here together with as many people as possible. There is no way that I won’t do it,” Gadi Moses, who was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023 and held in Gaza for 482 days, told JNS.
Moses was one of 76 hostages taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas massacre that left 1,200 people dead. The 80-year-old was abducted from his home along with his partner, Efrat Katz, as he tried to protect her, her daughter and two granddaughters from the same fate.
“They took me on a bike. Efrat stayed in the house with her family,” Moses recounted. All four were kidnapped, and Efrat was killed on the way to Gaza.
Moses was redeemed on Jan. 30 as part of a ceasefire agreement. Efrat’s daughter, Doron Katz-Asher, and her two children were freed after 49 days as part of a week-long November 2023 deal.
Efrat Machikawa is reunited with her uncle, redeemed captive Gadi Moses, at the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv | Photo: Efrat Machikawa
“For months, I didn’t know what was happening here, I saw pictures that were published by Al Jazeera of victims. They presented it through their perspective and not from any sort of objective point of view. It was very hard,” said Moses.
“In captivity, they informed me that they had lied to me and that Efrat had been killed. I was in survival mode, looking at what my captors were doing all the time. I didn’t have a moment to think,” he added.
Upon his return, Moses led Efrat’s reburial in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“It felt like closing the circle,” he said.
“Only when I saw her coffin and then covered it at the cemetery, I understood that it was the end. I was immensely sad, and I understood that if I want to recover, I needed to take my thoughts to a new direction,” he added.
Moses spoke of the warmth, solidarity and compassion of the Israeli people, who he said have welcomed him back with overwhelming kindness, as well as the hardship his family endured and the determination with which they fought.
“My grandchild was supposed to have his bar mitzvah on Oct. 10, 2023, at the Kotel. He told his parents that there would be no celebration until I returned. Everyone let their hair and beards grow, including my son Yair. We have since celebrated the bar mitzvah,” he said.
Moses emphasized his commitment to rebuilding Nir Oz as quickly as possible, while noting that a gap remains between funds allocated by the government and the total financial resources needed. The kibbutz is the only one in Israel that must be rebuilt from scratch, after Hamas terrorists damaged 97% of its homes.
Moses recently returned from a week-long trip to the United States, where he called on Jewish communities worldwide to support Nir Oz’s reconstruction. He continuously voices hope to see the kibbutz thrive as a place of education, culture and Zionist values.
‘I can’t look at relations with others with feelings of hate and revenge’
“I can’t look at relations with others with feelings of hate and revenge. What happened, happened. My vision of the world hasn’t changed,” he said.
“We need to have an agreement through which the Palestinians understand that we are here forever, and we also understand that they can’t disappear. Through this understanding, we need to find solutions. When I go to the youth and they ask me what will be, I tell them what you decide will be,” he added.
Young Israelis have joined efforts to rebuild Nir Oz, including 50 participants from the Hashomer Hatzair movement. The initiative, backed by the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund and the Homeward Initiative, is part of a nationwide effort to revive kibbutz communities in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks.
“I live in hope and faith that the houses will rise and be full of people, if not people that returned, then new people who will be partners in this mission,” said Moses.
As Israel prepares to mark the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7, Moses urged decision-makers to rescue the hostages from a position of strength—“from the point of a sovereign country with an army,” he said, one that has the weapons, intelligence and tools to act even after Israel leaves the Gaza Strip and the war ends.
“It’s very hard to look the mother of two hostages in the eyes and not go to demonstrations, not yell that it’s enough. The souls that are there must return home. Whoever is alive must come back to his family and whoever was murdered should be buried in Israel like a human being,” he said.
