During a moving event on Sunday evening at Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem attended by six thousand people, Sergeant First Class Michelle Rukovitzin took the stage to receive a Medal of Heroism from Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu.
Rukovitzin, who is considered the most severe casualty from the October 7th Massacre, surprised the crowd when she took the stage on her two feet, without a wheelchair. She received an extended standing ovation from the crowd.
Rukovitzin served as a field intelligence systems technician and was critically wounded in a shelter at the Kissufim military base. Since then, she underwent a long rehabilitation process and uses a wheelchair; however, at the event, she managed to go up on stage on foot.
During the event, the Medal of Heroism was also awarded to survivors of Hamas captivity, Yelena Troufanov and Agam Berger, as well as civilian intelligence expert Refael Hayoun from Netivot, who assisted in gathering intelligence on Hamas and directing IDF troops on the day of the massacre.
In addition, a Medal of Valor was awarded to Reuven Pol of Jerusalem, who assists rehabilitation patients in hospitals. Alongside him, three United Hatzalah volunteers received the medal: paramedic Itzik Krain, medic Naomi Dray, and Dr. Shlomo Gantzler, who established a field hospital in the Gaza envelope under fire and provided medical treatment to dozens of soldiers and civilians.
Also among the recipients of the award: Michal Esben, mother of a severely wounded soldier, who founded an association to support mothers of injured soldiers, as well as Chabad emissaries Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hendel of Athens, Rabbi Aryeh Ze’ev Raskin of Cyprus, and Rabbi Yitzchak Eisenbach of Paphos. The three assisted thousands of Israelis stranded in Greece and Cyprus in the first days of Operation Rising Lion.