Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano, whose body was recovered on Saturday night from captivity in the Gaza Strip, tells Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about the difficult and symbolic moment she received the news.
"Hope didn't run out until the last minute," says Ayelet. "Even after they came and notified me, I said that until there are DNA results, I'll still hold out hope."
She adds: "An inner voice told me that on his Hebrew birthday, Yonatan will return. I never knew the Hebrew date, and we never celebrated the Hebrew birthday, and I insisted on checking what it was. I was at a special place in the Golan Heights, Givat Yoav, and as I was hiking up the incline, I understood that this is where I was with Yonatan when he hiked the Golan Trail. I surprised him, I ordered him a cabin, and I told him that we'll do the last section together."
She continues to recount: "Suddenly, I went there this year on his Hebrew birthday, and I told myself that it can't be a coincidence. I asked on Saturday to do something for Yonatan, to take out a Torah scroll, and the moshav immediately volunteered. I decided that I would observe the Sabbath for the first time in my life, and I kept the Sabbath there. On Saturday night, I returned to Tel Aviv and I told myself, "It was his Hebrew birthday, and there was a recovery, they just didn't tell me.' I woke up in the morning from a missile siren and went into the safe room. There was an unusually loud explosion. I left the safe room to turn on the TV and got a phone call from the officer, and I knew what she was going to say.
"I went outside and saw that shrapnel had fallen at the entrance to the house. It was Yonati. What are the chances that on his Hebrew birthday, I went to the place where I experienced the most powerful experience that I had in my life? That was the only time that I was alone with my son; him, I, and G-d. He was recovered when I was there. It was so symbolic," Samerano added.
When she heard about the operation to recover her son's body, one of Ayelet's first questions was if anyone was hurt. "Every time I went around, it was important for me to visit the wounded at Shiba (Hospital) since I felt that they were wounded when they went to bring the hostages. I said that I want to be the last mother who experiences that. If I had known that someone was injured in the recovery, I would not have been able to bear it."
She also expresses appreciation for the military operation: "It was a heroic operation, no one was injured or killed, and we also didn't release any murderers for him, that was the correct ending. I wish there were rescue operations that looked like that. I wish we won't have to pay more, and everyone will come home." Samerano still notes that she supports a deal to bring back the rest of the hostages.
Along with the pain, Samerano also wishes to emphasize the feeling of unity: "Last Saturday, when I spoke at the synagogue, I told them that I had a request, 'It's easy to connect with someone similar to you. Please, look into the congregation, pick someone different than you, connect with them, and discover amazing worlds.' That Israel the beautiful people of Israel. That is our true unity."
There was also a moment where she felt unity in Israel's legislature. "To me, it was 'wow' to see the entire opposition hand-in-hand with the coalition. There was one thing in my journey that caused me to go 'wow', and that was the law against UNRWA. During the toughest time, the strongest disputes in the State of Israel, it was the first time that 90% of the Knesset voted for the same goal. It was the first time that the elected officials listened to the nation and the voters, put everything aside, and went with what the voters said. I wish that every vote that deals with Israeli security would be like that. Those votes showed the world who we are, that we are all one."
Now she is busy commemorating Yonatan by connecting people. “Yonatan will continue everything he did—through me, together with me, by my side. To carry on his legacy, we must be joyful, unifying, embracing, and connect with everyone. My Yonati connected with a two-year-old child and with an eighty-year-old man. We must always keep our arms open, love everyone, smile, and speak with our eyes—with love.”