Marking 200 days since the war against Hamas began, on Tuesday night some of those whose lives were forever changed on October 7th gathered on stage for an open conversation with the public.
Yamit Ashkenazi, an evacuee from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, sister of Doron Steinbrecher who is being held hostage in Gaza, said during the panel: "I fear that when my little sister returns, right before she hugs me and breaks down, she will ask me, 'Where were you?'"
"I can no longer bear to hear from others 'My heart is with you.' Come and stand with us here in the square – because it is already too heavy for us, the families, to bear the weight of 133 hostages alone. I can no longer hear people telling me, 'If that were my sister, I would burn down the country.' Get up – do something now!"
Niv Cohen, a survivor of the Nova Festival massacre, a close friend of Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal, who are being held hostage in Gaza, said during the panel: "I'm tired of seeing the day counts change. And I feel guilty when I realized that my friends were abducted 100 meters away from me, and how I wasn't with them, and how I didn't save them."
Liron Eldor, father of Major General Adi Eldor, who fought on 7/10 in Kfar Aza and fell on 11.02.24 in Khan Yunis, said during the panel: "I saw those who gathered at my son's grave, representing all the beautiful diversity of our people, and crying with us. There are far more things that unite us than divide us into factions! This is our time for a renaissance. I want to ask our leader, when he wakes up in the morning, to look in the mirror and say to himself – I am doing everything for the hostages, I am doing everything for this nation, without any outside considerations."
Miki Goldwasser, mother of Ehud Goldwasser, who was taken hostage by Hezbollah in 2006 and whose body was returned to Israel in 2008, said during the panel: "We said, 'Don't let indifference kill them,' and that is what needs to be said now, too. Get up, go out, shout, join Kaplan – let's take action, let's reboot the country."
"When I sit here in front of this audience, I am filled with optimism. I remember the two-year period when we were struggling, and it was the people who were everywhere that gave me the faith that the sons would return."
Hodaya Nisim, an evacuee from Kiryat Shmona, a volunteer at the Hostages Families Headquarters team, said during the panel: "I ask that each person looks within and understands how and what they can do for this struggle, so that they return as soon as possible. Connect to a great force of struggle and do it together."