Noa Argamani, one of the hostages freed in Operation Arnon, posted a moving tribute on social media Thursday to Yamam counterterrorism unit commander Arnon Zmora, who was killed during the rescue operation in Nuseirat in Gaza and was memorialized by having the operation named after him.
Argamani wrote: "Arnon, I didn't get to meet or see you, but it's clear to me that I couldn't have written these lines if you hadn't sacrificed yourself in the heroic rescue operation for the release of Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov and Almog Meir Jan and for my release. I asked about you. They told me, you were a person of values, charming, loved, a pure person, a family man, an amazing partner and a perfect father. This is how your wife Michal asked us to remember you and this is how I choose to remember you."
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Noa Argamani's social media post tribute to Arnon Zmora, killed during the rescue attempt to save her and three other hostages
"I want to thank you personally and from the bottom of my heart for choosing to save a life even knowing that you would be putting your life at risk, and for doing it over and over again and all for the sake of the hostages and for the sake of all the people of Israel," she also wrote.
"I promise you that I will remember you and commemorate your act of heroism everywhere; You will always be in my heart. The phrase 'because in his death he commanded us to live' has taken on a powerful meaning that will be intertwined in my life forever."
Zmora, 36 at the time of his death, was killed in the operation after, according to the IDF, he "went in at the head of the force". He lived in Sde David near Sderot, and left behind his wife Michal, and two children. Thousands of residents of Mevaseret Zion and the area accompanied him on his last journey in a parade of flags along the road and participated in his funeral.
Argamani and her father joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's delegation to Washington in recent days. She took part in a difficult meeting he held with family members of hostages still in Gaza and even tearfully told Netanyahu that “the hardest moment I had in captivity was when I listened to the radio and heard you say the war will be long. I thought, ‘I won’t get out of here.’ It was a breaking point for me. You must bring them home as quickly as possibly, before it is too late”
"They are suffering and dying there and we need to bring them back as soon as possible. I don't want to get into a political debate. I saw death with my eyes. Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky were killed next to me," she also said.
In a post she published online, she paid tribute to Svirsky: "We met each other during our joint journey together in Gaza, back on October 7. From the moment you entered the room, I realized that there was someone here that I could trust. You were by my side the whole way, and now I am by your side. You were my best friend and my older brother and taught me the complexity of the mind and how each of us deals with things in a different way, that there is no wrong way for each of us."
"I thank you for the days when I was terrified and you always told me, 'I am here with you. It is hard, but I am here with you.' To say thank you. Thank you for being by my side all this time, for listening to my fears, for just being there. I promise you that I will never forget you and that I will do my best to give you a proper burial," she added.
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Noa Argamani and her father, Yaakov, enter the US House of Representatives
(Photo: Itamar Eichner)
She also wrote a post in memory of Sharabi."During our time together I got to know an amazing human being full of humility. A man of truth. You always said that no matter whether we disagree, we must respect each other. I learned so much from you and was surprised at how much we shared in character and hobbies, despite our age difference," she said in her post.
At the end of the post, Argamani wrote: "You will always be a part of me, and I took it upon myself to be the messenger to tell the story so that everyone will hear what a hero you were and so that these tragedies will not happen again."
On Wednesday night during a joint session in Congress, Argamani won the applause of the audience during Netanyahu's speech. Netanyahu said "Hamas kidnapped hundreds of people into Gaza. Israel released some of them" - and pointed to Argemani.