Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, shared his feelings in an interview with CNN as a bereaved parent following the agreement on the first stage of President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza.
"This would not have happened without the military pressure that we applied on Hamas. The fact that we're sitting outside of Gaza City, ready and poised to complete this project militarily, is, at the end of the day, what brought Hamas to the table, said Leiter, whose son, Moshe Yedidya, fell in battle in Gaza in November 2023.
According to the Ambassador, "It's thanks to all of our young people who gave their lives and sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice for Israel to be safe and secure."
Reflecting on his longing for his fallen son, he added, "I miss my son desperately; he was my best friend, my oldest son, the father of six of my grandchildren, but I know that he was a brave warrior on behalf of the Jewish state, and he and his colleagues have made this moment possible. So, it's something we have to live with. It's a tension in our emotional make-up that we have to live with."
"We are both missing him very much and proud of what he accomplished."