Ela Haimi, the wife of Tal Haimi, the commander of Nir Yitzhak’s rapid response team who was abducted and murdered by Hamas during the October 7th Massacre, shared her feelings after his body was returned on Monday to Israel.
On the one hand, this is a huge relief. Maybe the term 'a stone was lifted off my chest' is the most precise cliche at the moment," Haimi said in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet. "I am so happy for Tal, he didn't deserve to be where he was. He needs to be here, at home, in Nir Yitzhak. This closure is real, and that's what I feel today."
Haimi fought the terrorists who invaded his kibbutz until his final moments. Ela recounted the fierce battle, in which her husband fought alongside his friend Lior, whose body has yet to return from Hamas captivity. "They fought in an unbelievable battle. I hope that one day we could share the entire story," she said.
The interview took place just as she notified her children that their father was returned to Israel. "I promised them every day that this moment would come. I am going to tell them now. They are ready for this, over the past two years, they went through things that children shouldn't."
In the interview, Ela addressed the political echelon and the public, and expressed hope that the rest of the hostages' families get an ending, even a sad one, which would allow them to begin the mourning and rehabilitation process.
"Another 15 families deserve an end like this. Hamas said at some point - 'I can give four, and that's it,' and since then nearly ten returned. So it can reach all of them. There's no time."
Tal is survived by his wife and four children, one of whom was born during the war and will never get to meet him.