Rachel Adri, known as “Rachel from Ofakim,” presented her son Avitar with his police rank at the same home in Ofakim where she was held hostage by Nukhba terrorists on October 7. The promotion to senior inspector was arranged as a surprise, and the emotional scene was captured on video by police spokespersons.
In the clip, Avitar told his mother, “You have a surprise,” while Adri broke into tears and said, “How nice, I cannot believe it. Thank you a million times, my dear.” He later said the moment was deeply meaningful after 22 years in the police service, calling it symbolic to receive the rank at that house: “After everything we went through here, the devastation we went through here, to be emotional with mom and dad up above. This is resurrection.”
Adri became a national symbol of courage in the first days of the war after recounting how she and her husband, David, were seized by five militants during the assault on their home. She said she served them food she had prepared for the holiday and kept them occupied until rescue forces and negotiations arrived. When she first heard gunfire near the house, she called her police officer son and summoned him there.
Avitar reached his parents’ home while his mother and father were still held by Hamas militants. He later saw from outside a terrorist holding a grenade close to his mother and passing it from hand to hand while smiling. He then sketched the house for YAMAM officers, helping them free the couple under fire. David Adri died about four months after his birthday, which fell on October 7, at age 68. In interviews, he had said the gunmen entered through the bedroom window and took them upstairs, adding, “They had evil intentions, they came to kill.”
