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In a year of war in Israel and a historic surge in antisemitism, The Algemeiner, an online global news destination based in New York, has included the Hadassah Medical Organization’s Dr. Esi Sharon-Sagie in its prestigious “J100” list, recognizing Jews and non-Jews who most positively influenced Jewish life in 2025. There are 100 honorees, not ranked in any particular order.
For two and a half years, Dr. Sharon-Sagie led a volunteer team of dentists, many of them her colleagues at Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, in the sacred work of identifying victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks and the war that followed. By examining teeth and comparing them with difficult-to-obtain dental records, they restored identities to war victims and even enemies. Among those she identified was arch terrorist Yahya Sinwar.
On January 26 this year, as the Jewish world waited, Dr. Sharon-Sagie stood beside a pit in Gaza and confirmed the identity of the final deceased hostage, combat police officer Ran Gvili.
The Algemeiner editorial board wrote:
“Above all, the Jewish world carried the unbearable weight of the hostages held in Gaza. The soul of the Jewish people could not fully heal until all the hostages, the living and the dead, were home. We are grateful that at the time of this writing, and for the first time in more than a decade, no hostages remain in Gaza.”
The award states:
Dr. Esi Sharon-Sagie, director of the Oral Rehabilitation Graduate Program at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, became one of the quiet heroes of Israel’s darkest year. A longtime volunteer forensic odontologist with the Israel Police, she led efforts to identify victims of the October 7, 2023, massacre when only dental records could restore their names. In October 2024, her expertise confirmed the death of Yahya Sinwar, one of Israel’s most notorious enemies, based on dental and imaging evidence even before DNA results were finalized. Through precision, discipline and compassion, Dr. Sharon-Sagie transformed science into dignity, giving families certainty and helping close one of the war’s most consequential chapters.
