Captivity survivor Edan Alexander spoke on Wednesday evening at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Maccabiah Games. He explained why, just a short time after returning from captivity, he chose to leave the trauma behind, put on a uniform, and return to active military service in the IDF.
"There is no greater privilege in this life than defending my home, my country," Alexander began his powerful address. "On October 7th, I fought with everything I had against the terrorists, but ultimately I was abducted into the Strip. There, in the tunnels and basements, I lived day-to-day with severe hunger, thirst, a constant fear of death, and a desperate, crippling longing for the normal life I had before."
Alexander described the single glimmer of light that kept him alive during moments when despair threatened to overwhelm him, attributing his survival to the mutual responsibility and relentless fight waged by his family and the Israeli public.
"In the hardest moments I went through there, in the deepest and most terrifying silence of captivity, I heard you," he shared with tearful eyes. "I heard an incredible family that never gave up on me for a single moment, and people in the streets who had never even met me, yet fought, marched, and cried out as if I were their own child. This sense of community pierced right through the concrete walls."
"Very shortly after I returned home in a deal, I knew immediately that I was going back to serve in the military," he proudly declared. "Because this is our country, and this is our people. A people I am so deeply, genuinely proud to be an inseparable part of. This is a singular nation that remembers and sanctifies all the heroes who fell along the way, fighting every day to proudly carry on their path and legacy. This is the nation that brought me home, and I will dedicate my entire life to giving back to it."