Hagar Daniels Ozeri gave birth to daughter Ella in a hospital room filled with pictures of fiancee Yaakov Ozeri, an IDF tank reservist killed in Gaza on 7 November 2023.
The 28-year old from northern Israel’s Kibbutz Ginegar was left alone at 22 weeks pregnant with the child Yaakov was so excited to meet, their plans to marry after his service left shattered.
Sitting in a hotel lobby, Hagar is in London with the IDF Widows and Orphans Organisation, the non-profit dedicated to supporting the spouses and children of Israel’s fallen heroes, to talk about the love of her life, killed when he was 28 years old.
She tells Jewish News that the couple were “obsessed with each other”. They’d met at a party in their teens, gone their separate ways for a while, and then come back together, from then on inseparable.
Hagar and baby Ella. Pic: Courtesy
“We chose Ella’s name together and were planning on moving to a kibbutz after she was born,” she says.
“I told him I wanted kids with him on our third date. We were on the beach and I told him I wanted kids. Kids with him. And he laughed and said ‘good’.”
Hagar’s sister told her there was “no doubt” the two of them were meant to be together. “He was the one for me.”
Yaakov on 6th November 2023, pictured the day before he died in Gaza. Pic: Courtesy
She wears a bandana around her left wrist; it was Yaakov’s and she says she wears it when she feels she needs to be close to him, “although I’m wearing it less as I’m afraid it will start getting frayed”.
Her face lights up talking about him; his creativity, his passion for drawing at his workshop at home, his love of tattoos, for cooking, especially Indian food, and for perfecting every task he was faced with. Known for personalising his army kit, he took his sewing machine into reserve duty with him, always planning ahead.
Yaakov drawing. Picture: Courtesy
“He loved his army service, but he changed a lot of things over there, because if there’s a better way to do it, he’d do it.”
Hagar was at home alone when she received the phone call from Yaakov’s sister telling her he’d been killed. “He died around 12 midday. It was quick. And that was when I was on the beach with the dogs, playing with them, in such a happy mood.”
Knowing that Yaakov was dead, Hagar wanted to join him, feeling angry at the growing life inside her that prevented her from doing so.
Hagar and Yaakov’s family waiting outside the labour ward room. Pic: Courtesy
Two midwives, Ayelet and Shosh, came to Hagar and Yaakov’s flat, part of the IDF Widows & Orphans programme, “Letzidech” (By Your Side), that supports pregnant war widows.
She says: “At the beginning, they just sat down and I told them about Yaakov and showed them his workshop, and all of his artwork. And then slowly, they asked me what we had planned together for the baby. They were trying to re-connect me.”
They asked Hagar what she wanted for her birth plan. “The first thing I said I wanted was an epidural”, she laughs.
Hagar speaking in front of a group of IDF Widows and Orphans supporters from England.
On the day when she got her contractions. “I called the midwives and they did everything for me apart from put out a red carpet. They were gorgeous. They made a playlist of all our favourite songs for the labour room.”
As she gave birth, wearing his bandana and necklace, she had recordings of Yaakov’s voice prepared, so that his voice would be the first sounds their daughter would hear.
Her mum and sister were there, Yaakov’s mother, Ayelet, Shosh and two doctors from her kibbutz. She shows Jewish News a picture of family waiting outside the room, their heads anxiously pressed against the door, straining to hear what was going on inside.
Artwork by Yaakov Ozeri. Pic: Courtesy
“So, no pressure at all,” she says, before sharing a picture of her mother cutting the umbilical cord as Ella was born with a shock of thick black hair.
“I handed Ella over to Yaakov’s mum to hold. And she stayed there with her, for twelve hours.”
David Metzler with Hagar and Hagar’s sister Yael at the IDF Widows & Orphans Organisation Conference for all the widows of the Swords of Iron War (Sep 2024).
Hagar talks to her daughter every day about Yaakov. “She is something else. You have no idea. She’s started drawing now. She’s super smart. Cheeky. And she’s got Yaakov’s eyes.”
Ayelet, Shosh and Hagar are still in contact and the organisation has helped her buy new clothes for Ella and arranged for her to meet other IDF widows. “They still help. They help all the time.”
Baby Ella facing a picture of her father Yaakov. Pic: Courtesy
Jewish News asks if the charity has enabled her to be part of a community. “Mamash,” she says. “Yes. Really. They are with me for life.”
David Metzler, director, international relations, IDF Widows & Orphans Organisation, says: “These women and children have paid the highest price anyone can pay – for all of us – so that Israel may remain free. We are forever in their debt.”
- To find out more about IDF Widows and Orphans, click here.
