Singer, actor, and Israel Prize laureate Yehoram Gaon was a guest today (Friday) on Kan Reshet Bet’s program “At Noon on Friday”, marking the release of the new documentary “An Evening with Yehoram Gaon” now airing on HOT and yes.
Gaon spoke about his view of Jewish and Israeli history as one continuous chain. “I do not define this as a land with many wars, but as one long, ongoing war, with pauses in between,” he said. “It is all part of one amazing story, and I believe that in the end there will be a great light.” He stressed that despite the difficulties of the present time, history must be seen in its wider scope. “It is impossible not to think that there is a mission here, a long path. Great empires disappeared into oblivion - and yet we remain.”
The veteran singer, who will celebrate his 86th birthday in December, reflected on his childhood in Jerusalem, when he feared the Nazis would reach the Land of Israel. “The great fear was that the Axis powers would close in on us like a pincer. It was terrible.” He then connected that memory to the events of October 7. “In the land of refuge, where what happened in exile was never supposed to happen again - the worst disaster of all occurred. They entered our homes and pulled us out of bed in our pajamas. Nothing could be worse than that.”
During the broadcast, news broke that Alon Ohel is the hostage shown alongside Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a video released by Hamas today. “The great catastrophe is the dispersal of the hostages,” Gaon said. “We have planes, tanks, brains - everything. But we do not have the only weapon Hamas possesses: a disregard for human life. We cannot fight against that.” He added that the national ethos of ‘never leaving a wounded soldier on the battlefield’ obligates the State. “If the hostages do not return, we will all be lacking - as a moral nation and as the home of the Jewish people.”
Gaon concluded the interview with the song “Lo T’natzehu Oti” (You will not defeat me), dedicating it with the firm belief that “they will not defeat us, because that is what I believe.”