Doron, whose family adopted lone soldier Idan Alexander
Doron, whose family adopted lone soldier Idan AlexanderIsrael National News

Idan Alexander, a lone soldier from the United States, was abducted to Gaza during the Hamas attack on October 7.

At "Hostage Square", the public square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where families of hostages held by Hamas have been gathering for the past several weeks, Arutz Sheva-Israel National News spoke with Doron, who along with his family, were Alexander's adoptive family in Israel.

"Idan arrived as part of the ‘Garin Tzabar’ (Israeli Lone Soldier IDF Program) from Tenafly in New Jersey. Kibbutz Hazor absorbs soldiers from Garin Tzabar and hosts them in the first year of service and also beyond that. Every soldier has an adoptive family and we were his family. He is an amazing boy and his family is amazing," Doron said.

"He wanted to go enlist in the reconnaissance company of the Golani Brigade, but he had a fever that day and he did not go and enlisted in the 51st Battalion instead. He had a good time there and connected with the people. On that ‘Black Shabbat’ [of October 7] they were serving at an outpost near Kissufim. He was kidnapped on Saturday morning and his family has a video where he is seen walking and that's how we realized he was kidnapped," added Doron.

"The worrying is eating us up. We are supposedly an adoptive family, but our feeling is that we have a child who is kidnapped in Gaza. At the same time, we are optimistic that he will return," he said.

Although it is almost clear that Alexander will not be released in the current hostage deal, which includes only women and children, Doron is trying to look at the glass as half full. "Obviously, he is a soldier and that is a detriment in this aspect. I can be happy and am happy for every family, child and mother, who will return. In the meantime, we are waiting for him at home. Every Friday we prepare a plate for him, raise a toast and bless him, wherever he is in Gaza. We also started preparing dishes from his grandmother’s cookbook, and we are waiting for him to return."

At “Hostage Square” he sees the beautiful Israel - without differences between views and worlds. "We see the entire people of Israel at their best, the great support, regardless of opinions or affiliation. Because of this great spirit and this mobilization - no one can defeat us."

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