Mozes will receive the award for his exceptional personal courage, leadership, and Zionism after pledging to rebuild Kibbutz Nir Oz following his release from terrorist captivity in January.
Freed Gaza hostage Gadi Mozes will receive the ‘Ben-Gurion Award’ for exemplary individuals from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Prof. Daniel Haimovitz in November, the university announced earlier this week.
The award committee announced that Mozes was selected to receive the award, named after the first prime minister of Israel, for his “many years of contribution to the building and prosperity of the Negev, for his leadership in the reconstruction of Kibbutz Nir Oz, his personal courage, and for his role model of steadfastness, Zionism, and love of country.”
Mozes was held for 482 days by terrorists in the Gaza Strip after being kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas during the October 7 massacre. Much of the kibbutz was burned and destroyed as Hamas terrorists tore their way through the small farming community.
Mozes’s lifelong commitment to Kibbutz Nir Oz
He was released, aged 80, in January 2025 and was the oldest living hostage to have survived terrorist captivity. Upon his release, Mozes pledged to return to his home and his life’s work, vowing to help rebuild the kibbutz he resided in for nearly 60 years.
The university’s statement described Mozes’s history in the region, detailing his career as an agronomist in the agriculture industry, throughout which he “worked in third world countries, teaching local farmers about irrigation and growing methods.”
Released Israeli hostage Gadi Mozes at a ceremony marking rebuilding in Kibbutz Nir Oz, August 7, 2025. (credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
Prof. Haimovitz added to the statement that Mozes would receive the award as a “symbol of the invincible human spirit,” explaining that “his return to life after months of difficult captivity is an inspiration of courage, hope, and faith in human strength.”
The university’s announcement concluded with Prof. Haimovitz declaring that “Gadi Mozes embodies the values upon which the university was founded – commitment to society, steadfastness in the face of challenges, and a deep belief in the mutual guarantee of the people of Israel.”