October 7 · Personal story
Gadi Haggai
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Outside Kibbutz Nir Oz, during the couple’s morning walk
Current outcome
Returned for burial · June 5, 2025
Gadi Haggai was killed on 7 October 2023; the body was recovered in Gaza and returned to Israel on 5 June 2025.
01
Life before
Born at Ein HaShofet on 28 November 1950, Gadi showed musical ability early: the Nir Oz community biography says he played flute from age three. After growing up in the Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz culture, he served in the Shaked reconnaissance unit. He later auditioned for the IDF Orchestra and became its principal flutist. A period in the United States deepened his love of jazz. Back in Israel, he met Judy, who had come to volunteer at Ein HaShofet. They formed the Jazz Union, performed around the country, and built a life around music, art, and independence. When performing could not support a family, they moved to Nir Oz in 1994 and raised four children there. Gadi studied at Tadmor cooking school and became the kibbutz head chef. The community remembers his morning walks with Judy, cycling, sport, and attention to healthy food alongside his music and cooking.
02
7 October
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Gadi and Judy went for their usual walk outside Nir Oz. At 7:05, Judy called a volunteer medic and said both had been shot. Gadi had been shot in the head. The medic tried to send an ambulance, but gunmen stopped and burned it. Judy then called the Magen David Adom dispatch center and said Gadi was probably dead. A video sent to Gadi’s children showed his body taken in a pickup truck that day. Nir Oz later announced that both Gadi and Judy had been killed on 7 October, and that Gadi’s body was held in Gaza.
03
After the attack
On 22 December 2023, Nir Oz announced that Gadi had been killed on 7 October and that his body was held in Gaza. His family had seen a video of his body being taken that morning and waited for its return.
04
Return for burial
Gadi’s body was recovered in Khan Younis and returned to Israel on 5 June 2025. National Insurance records his burial at Ein HaShofet, where he was born. Nir Oz remembered the sounds of his flute and the smell of his soups.
05
Remembered
Gadi left four children and seven grandchildren. He and Judy shared American citizenship, and their family’s 5 June 2025 statement welcomed their return for burial while saying their hearts would not be whole until all hostages were home. In Nir Oz, people remember a musician who could cook for the community and a partner who kept a daily walking routine with Judy. The community biography also preserves a message Gadi wrote on Friday, 6 October: “Live your life as if this is your last day, but learn as if you will live forever.”