"I wish for myself a husband like you": Neta from 'Married at First Sight' reveals a personal tragedy
A participant in the show, accompanied by her partner Avitar Kahana, visited the mother of Major (res.) Moshe Leiter, who fell in Gaza. "I have been putting off this moment for two years," she shared, recalling their final meeting.
"I knew in my heart that this was the last time we would see each other." The wounds and consequences of October 7th reach the screen on "Married at First Sight". After her partner Avitar Kahana was called up to reserve duty during filming, his bride Neta Menashe also carries a heavy burden from the war.
In the episode that aired last night on Keshet 12, Menashe arrived with Kahana to visit Hani, the mother of her former commander, Major (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, of blessed memory.
"For two years I have been putting off this moment. I simply didn't have the courage to sit and talk with Moshe's mother," Neta shared with Hani. "You told me then 'come, I want to talk', and I didn't dare. It sat on me for a long time, and the program simply gave me the push I needed to do it."
Regarding the final moments with her commander, Neta said: "I asked him how the weekend was, and he answered me that it was the best Shabbat he had ever had in his life." When Hani asked to hear about her son's last words before he was killed by an explosive device, Avitar, who knew the story, told the mother: "He asked to tell Sapir: 'Shabbat Shalom'."
Neta read to Hani a greeting she had written to Moshe days before he fell, for his birthday: "I wish for myself to find a husband like you." She added: "We hugged outside the car. When I drove away and looked in the mirror, I saw him walking and I knew in my heart that this was the last time we would see each other."
The loss, Neta explains, has affected her entire life: "My father came with me to the funeral because I was afraid to be there alone. My mother says that from the day Moshe left, I changed, and all of our lives changed."
Avitar shared his feelings after the emotional meeting:
"I saw something completely different, it touched me deeply. I think she cried both for Moshe and for herself, that she is no longer the same Neta as before. It makes me happy that she managed to let go, it is an inseparable part of the healing process. When a person exposes their weaknesses and vulnerability, it brings people a million times closer."
Hani shared with the couple the most terrible moment, when the bitter news knocked on her door: "It was a quarter to 10 at night. My son told the messengers that I was sleeping, but they insisted. As a nurse by profession, I was sure that someone was injured. When I understood what it was about, I was in total shock. For me, death and Moshe are two things that simply do not go together."
The story of the fall of Moshe Leiter
Moshe Leiter fell in November 2023 in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip. He commanded a company in the 697th Battalion of the 551st Brigade and was a medical student. He was 39 years old and left behind a wife, six children, parents, and seven siblings. His father is Dr. Yehiel Leiter, who was later appointed Israel's ambassador to the United States. Moshe fought in the Gaza envelope communities during the first days of the October 7th conflict, before the brigade entered the ground maneuver in the Strip.
