President Isaac Herzog on Monday hosted a special delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, headed by Chair Betsy Korn and CEO William Daroff, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
Joining the meeting were Kobi and Idit Ohel — the parents of 22-year-old hostage Alon Ohel — and his younger sister, Inbar. Alon was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and has been held in brutal captivity in Gaza for 654 days.
President Herzog opened the meeting by welcoming the delegation and highlighting the critical importance of their continued solidarity and advocacy.
“I’m very honored to have all of you here. This is a very important moment. I am pleased to have with us the parents of Alon Ohel — they’re heroes,” he said.
The President stressed, ”This is the most important issue on Israel’s agenda, undoubtedly. These moments are extremely sensitive. There is a large Israeli negotiating team currently in Qatar. We see a major effort from all partners concerned. I want to thank President Donald Trump for giving this strong support. I expect the mediators — Qatar, Egypt, and the United States — to be as forceful as possible. Hamas continues to miss the opportunity. Their misunderstanding of reality is creating huge suffering and havoc for their own people. All of us must scream out loud and demand a deal as soon as possible. Israel has gone very far. It’s time for Hamas to go as far as possible so that we see our sons and daughters — all 50 of them —back home.”
“We want to see Alon here, playing the piano,” added Herzog.
Idit Ohel spoke emotionally about her son’s condition and the pain endured by all hostage families: “When we say we need you — we mean it. What is Israel without you being there for us, hoping and praying and doing all you’ve been doing from October 7 until today? Alon is an innocent civilian who was at the Nova festival. He was kidnapped from a bomb shelter and injured. He is blind in one eye, with the other also damaged. He has shrapnel all over his body. He is malnourished, starved, and chained by the legs. We don’t know much, but we know he’s alive — and we know this because of returning hostages.”
She added, “Please continue hoping and praying for us, for all the hostages to return. We cannot move on. All of Israel feels like we have been taken hostage — not just the families, not just the hostages — the entire Israeli community.”
President Herzog concluded with an urgent call for action: “We must reverberate this message now — because in many ways it’s now or never. This is the key to changing everything — from the humanitarian situation in Gaza to the future of the region.”