Nasrin Yosef, who interrogated Hamas terrorists on Black Shabbat at her home in Moshav Yad, decided to forego lighting a beacon on the upcoming Independence Day. In the message she sent to the committee recently, it was written on behalf of Nasreen: “Due to threats, she decided with great pain to withdraw her candidacy from the honorable status.” Minister Regev, who is in charge of the beacon ceremony, asked the committee to recommend additional candidates.
Nasreen’s story became public after October 7. The first terrorists arrested that morning were brought to her house, and with the help of her knowledge of the Arabic language, she interrogated them. Information she was able to extract from them and a phone conversation with terrorists who were operating in the area helped the alert class to arrest more militants. At the same time, Ayad, her husband, was fighting with the moshav’s standby squad.
“I think there are people who deserve more than me and I want to protect my family and myself,” she said in response to N12. “I did what I did not to light a beacon. It is an honor to light a beacon in Israel, but my husband and I decided to give it up and we are grateful for the honor given to us. This is our country and we will continue to protect it regardless of whether we lit a beacon or not. What I did was out of a desire to help.”
Nasreen’s family was first evacuated to the north, and from there moved to Eilat. When her story was published in the media, she began to receive threats from Westerners who recognized her. “Nasreen decided with great pain to withdraw her candidacy, so that her soul would not be harmed beyond what was harmed by the events of Sheva in October,” the letter to the committee states.
Nasreen explained: “There are people who deserve more than me.” The destruction in Gaza Photo: Flash 90
Behind the scenes there was a drama regarding the selection of Nasrin Yosef to light a torch. According to the emergency squad, the story Nasreen told was not true and was not accurate. They wrote a letter to Sara Regev, who is in charge of the torch ceremony, and Nasreen gave up on lighting it.
Minister Regev asked the committee to recommend additional candidates to replace Nasreen. Regev said that she was sorry to hear about Nasreen’s desire to withdraw her candidacy, but that she respects the decision.
The traditional beacon ceremony will be held on the eve of Independence Day, May 13, at Mount Herzl. The ceremony will be moderated by News 12 reporter in the south Tamir Steinman and channel 14 main edition presenter Maggie Tavibi. The regulations of the ceremony were changed this year, and a select few will be able to raise a torch together, as representatives of one of the many faces of Israeli society.
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