The IDF announced this morning (Wednesday) that Private Noga Weiss, who was freed from Hamas captivity last November, graduated with honors from the 2014 Special Forces course. Noga received a purple ribbon from the course headquarters.
Noga shared her feelings: “I had a lot of thoughts before. From the moment I was sure I would never enlist, until the moment I felt safe where I was, and I realized that I wanted to beat myself and them. During the training, I became more and more at peace with my decision, and today I finish the course with the feeling that I have won. I am excited for what is to come, to feel that I have influenced soldiers.”
Noga was released in the first hostage deal together with her mother after 50 days in captivity. Her father, Ilan, was murdered and his body is still being held in Gaza.
In a previous testimony, Noga described her experiences from October 7: “I was under the bed when I saw my mother being kidnapped. My sisters advised me to get out and run, but when I went out there were terrorists all over the area running and on bicycles, so I hid in the bushes.”
She continued to describe the moments of the kidnapping: “There were more than 40 terrorists around me, all of them pointing Kalashnikovs at me and at the bodies of people I know. Then they put me in a car and we enter Gaza, crowds, children and adults shouting and cheering, putting their hands into the car To pull my hair, I didn’t understand why they didn’t just shoot me.”
Noga also told about the exciting moment when she met her mother in captivity: “Suddenly, an Arab woman with a hijab enters the house. It takes me a while to understand that who I see is my mother. I didn’t know she was alive and she didn’t know I was alive, this is not a situation at all crossed my mind. I was sure I was left alone.”