Nir Poraz

Who is Nir Poraz?

Nir Poraz was a 23 year-old Israeli Defence Forces Captain who was killed in action by Hamas during the failed October 14, 1994 rescue mission to release IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman in Bir Nabbalah. The rescue operation was authorized by then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Poraz was killed by close range automatic fire from a distance of three yards.

Author Ami Pedahzur writes in his book The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism that in addition to the deaths of Wachsman and Poraz "ten officers and enlisted men had been wounded." Three Hamas gunmen were also killed.

Poraz, along with Capt. Lior Lotan, was one of the mission commanders of the Sayeret Matkal team which had been assigned the task to rescue Wachsman. Poraz and Wachsman had never met.

Many similarities have been drawn between Israel's different response to the kidnapping of Wachsman and to the 2006 kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Poraz's mother, Mati, when interviewed by the Israeli news source ynet said, "I can only hope that there will be no rescue operation; that it will end in diplomatic manners."

In addition to his mother, Nir is survived by his two sisters Tamar and Amit.