‘The glue that held family together’: Slain hostage Lior Rudaeff’s family pays tribute at funeral
Thousands gathered to honor First Sergeant (res.) Lior Rudaeff at a funeral in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s cemetery, following the return of his remains after over two years in Hamas’s terror captivity.
Deceased hostage First Sergeant (res.) Lior Rudaeff was the “glue that held our family together,” his widow, Yafa Rudaeff, eulogized at his funeral in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Monday.
“Thank you for 41 years together, through good times and bad. Your journey in this world ended far too soon, and I want to ask your forgiveness,” she added.
She commented on how relieved she is that her husband can receive the “dignified burial [he] deserves in the land [he] defended and fought for.”
“I never prayed for this, even after we received word that you were killed, my mind understood, but my heart refused to believe,” she added.
Giora Rudaeff, father of deceased hostage First Sergeant (res.) Lior Rudaeff, speaks at his son’s funeral, November 10, 2025. (credit: Uriel Even Sapir)
Other members of the Rudaeff family, including Lior’s father, Giora, his widow, Yafa, his daughter, Noam, and his sons, Nadav and Ben, eulogized him during the ceremony.
“The rage that this happened to you, that the state wasn’t there, that the army that promised to be there within minutes… 763 days that they abandoned you. It was too long a journey, too painful, a journey with no good ending, but finally, it has an ending,” Noam said.
She also told her deceased father about his “new granddaughter, Shay,” who is “feisty just like you.”
‘We fought for you like you fought for us,’ son Nadav deceased hostage father
“We fought for you, Dad. You wouldn’t believe how far we went and what we did for you. We fought for you like you fought for us on that cursed day. You were always the first to leave and the last to return. I have so much to tell you, but that time will come,” Nadav said, apologizing that he did not tell his father enough times how much he loved him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here that morning. You were my safe place for 23 years, and since then, I feel a bit lost, but I know that I’m not giving up. I’m taking care of myself and surrounding myself with good people,” Ben said.
MDA ambulance donated in his honor
The funeral procession also included a Magen David Adom ambulance donated in Rudaeff’s memory, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said. Rudaeff volunteered with MDA as an ambulance driver.
