October 7 · Personal story
Yehudit Weiss
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Be’eri
Current outcome
Returned for burial · November 16, 2023
Her body was found in Gaza and brought to Israel on November 16, 2023.
01
Life before
Yehudit was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in Hatikva, eldest of five. As a girl she helped care for her younger siblings and loved going to the sea. She joined a Nahal group and met Shmulik during training; they married at Kibbutz Gilgal, later lived at Kibbutz Erez, and settled in Be’eri in 1991. She worked as a kindergarten teacher, coordinated Be’eri’s dining room, and directed its welfare department; she studied public administration and later earned a master’s in business and economics. Yehudit and Shmulik raised five children. She made time for each child and cared for her grandchildren, and their home welcomed family, friends, soldiers, workers, and volunteers. In summer 2023, she learned she had breast cancer and received radiation treatment.
02
Abduction
On October 7, 2023, Yehudit was at home in Be’eri with Shmulik as the attack reached the kibbutz. She and Shmulik were in touch with their children that morning. Their messages stopped, and Yehudit was taken to Gaza.
03
Captivity
The family received formal notice that Yehudit had been taken captive. The couple’s phones were later traced to Gaza; her family had no further direct contact with her. BTL’s memorial record lists October 7 as her murder date; Times of Israel reports the IDF gave no further details on when she died.
04
Recovery and return
On November 16, 2023, Israeli soldiers found Yehudit’s body in a building beside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and brought it to Israel.
05
Aftermath
Yehudit was first buried in Moshav Olesh, beside Shmulik. When possible, their remains were transferred for burial in Be’eri. She was survived by five children, grandchildren and siblings.