Thirteen women who exhibited extraordinary bravery during the October 7 onslaught by Hamas recently inaugurated “The Path of Heroines” established in their honor. The special project, launched by Keren Kaymeth L’Israel-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), saw the women each plant a tree along a path at Ofakim Park in Israel’s Negev Desert.
Each tree has a QR code attached to it, allowing visitors to uncover the story of each heroine by scanning the code.
The women honored are Bat Sheva Yahalomi, Shifra Bukhris, Einav Tsengauker, Tali Hadad, Yamit Sultan, Liraz Levi, Lt. Col. Moran Tadgi, Tali Medina, Shiran Avoharon, Shoshana Mali, Maj. Omer Gur, Valery Dickstein and Nurit Cohen.
Exceptional stories
Each woman has an exceptional story of perseverance and survival.
Bukhris, Sultan, Tadgi, Mali and Gur are all in law enforcement. On October 7, they separately fought off terrorists while evacuating wounded civilians in the Gaza border region.
Sultan, Mali and Gur were all badly injured in battles with the terrorists, but kept fighting to save others.
Yahalomi and Tsengauker both have sons who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, and are actively pursuing their release.
Dickstein helped the Jewish community in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in 2021. She flew to Israel following the October 7 attacks to volunteer in the Gaza border region. Cohen is a volunteer with ZAKA, which helps in search and recovery of human remains following any accident, crime or terror attack.
Avoharon lost her police sergeant husband, Roni, on October 7 after he fell trying to save lives while battling the terrorists.
Levi and Hadad both traveled back and forth under fire to evacuate the wounded. Levi helped those hurt at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, and Hadad helped the wounded in Ofakim, one of whom was her own son.
Medina, the dairy farm manager in Kibbutz Urim, made the tough choice to make sure her cows were safe when five terrorists descended on her community on October 7.
She and her team milked and fed 600 cows while the men of the kibbutz were outside battling the terrorists. Medina’s husband was shot and wounded at a junction near the kibbutz, while her children hid in the community bomb shelter because their home had no protected room.
A heroic journey
The Path of Heroines project was initiated by KKL-JNF Chairwoman Ifat Ovadia Luski and unveiled at a ceremony hosted by former Miss World Linor Abargil. Abargil has been actively advocating for the female victims of the Hamas assault. She has appeared at the United Nations, lamenting the organization’s lack of condemnation of sexual violence committed by the terrorists against Israeli women.
Ovadia Luski told the attendees at the ceremony that instead of “placing a statue or a silent stone in salute to these heroines, we paved a path. Because the heroism of October 7 is part of a long journey that begins long before us – and will continue long after us.”
Produced in association with ISRAEL21c
