Dozens of Eshkol Municipality residents gathered on Sunday at the Re’im and Be’eri junctions to escort Dror Or, the third to last hostage, on his funeral procession.
Or’s remains were returned to Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas via the Red Cross last week.
“Dror, I will never in my life truly understand how it could be that this happened to you and to Yonat, how you were attacked like that in your beautiful home, with evil so cruel,” his brother, Elad Or, said in his eulogy.
“I will never forget, and never forgive, the unbearably long time in which we were forced to beg for help and rescue from the ongoing terror act of your captivity,” he said.
“Alma, Noam, Yahli, Dana, Mom, Dad, Lili – we will continue together to live and to miss you, and we will do everything we can so that life will be as good as possible for us,” Elad Or said. “We have each other. I love you, Dror. You will always be my brother.”
President Isaac Herzog attended Or’s funeral and said: “Today, after over two years of pain and suffering, Dror Or, the final hostage taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the massacre, is finally laid to eternal rest in the ground of the kibbutz he so deeply loved.”
Father, cheesemaker, yoga instructor: Who was Gaza hostage Dror Or?
Father, cheese maker, yoga instructor Or, 48, was born in Kibbutz Re’im and moved to Tel Aviv to pursue his culinary studies as a young adult. He met his wife, Yonat, who was from Be’eri, and they initially lived in Tel Aviv before moving to Be’eri.
Or initially worked in the kibbutz’s printing house before pursuing the culinary arts. He was a chef and cheese maker at Be’eri Dairy – an award-winning artisanal cheese-making operation.
He attended Tadmor Culinary, Hotelier, and Tourism School before studying cheese making in France and Italy.
Or enjoyed world travel, basketball, and yoga. He was a certified yoga instructor and practiced for 20 years. He also played basketball as a point guard from elementary through high school.
After high school, he served a year with a youth movement in Rishon Lezion, during which he continued playing basketball.
After serving in the Military Police during his army service, he worked in Re’im’s cowshed and as a bartender in Eilat to save money to travel. He traveled to India and then to Australia. When he returned to Israel, he worked at Be’eri’s print shop.
Then he met Yonat and was introduced to cheese making. On the day of the October 7 massacre, when terrorists entered their house and set it on fire, the couple instructed their children to jump out the window, run, and stay together.
Or was murdered on October 7 and taken captive from Be’eri. His children, Noam, 17, and Alma, 13, were taken hostage alive. His wife, Yonat Or, was also murdered during the massacre, but her remains were not taken hostage.
Noam and Alma were returned to Israel on November 25, 2023, after 50 days in captivity as part of the first hostage deal.
Esther Davis contributed to this report.