On Shabbat (Saturday), we began our day on a positive note by joining the congregation at Kehilat Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv for Shacharit (morning service) and a Bar Mitzvah celebration.
We also had a thought-provoking conversation with Ben Dror Yemini, a journalist and expert on current events and historical context.
However, one of the most powerful encounters we’ve had so far was with a recently released hostage—an 85-year-old woman who had been held captive for weeks, enduring severe abuse and medical neglect. Her testimony was among the most harrowing I’ve heard. According to her, she was thrown onto the back of one of the kidnappers’ motorcycles, like a sack of potatoes, and was beaten with a stick as the terrorist dragged her through the tunnels. Can you imagine your own mother or grandmother going through such horrors? Tragically, her husband is still in captivity, presumably dead.
What struck me most, though, was the astonishing resilience in her words. Despite everything she endured, she firmly believes that the only path forward is peaceful coexistence with the Palestinians.
In the evening, we participated in the Havdalah ceremony at Hostages Square (כיכר החטופים), a public plaza located in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, the square has become a gathering place for families of hostages, due to its proximity to the Israel Defense Forces headquarters. It has also served as the site of rallies and protests throughout the Israel-Hamas war, with participants calling for the release of those taken captive. I was invited by my Israeli colleagues to sing with them for the Havdalah….
On Sunday, we visited Kibbutz Menara, just a few yards from the Lebanon border. The destruction was overwhelming: buildings reduced to rubble from Hezbollah bombings, homes burned, and mountains of debris everywhere. Most residents have fled, and many will likely never return.
We cannot ignore the reality behind these conflicts. The aim of Iran and its terrorist allies—Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis—has always been clear: to eradicate Israel and America. They say it openly, and they act on it.
There can be no peace or coexistence until Palestinians free themselves from Hamas, and Lebanon from Hezbollah.
Let’s not let our good moral standards cloud the truth of the situation: these terrorist organizations are not interested in helping their people or building societies based on coexistence. Their goal is destruction—of Israel, the West, and any form of peace.
Remember 9/11?
The Palestinian people will never see true peace until the world fully understands the threat of radical Islamism and the dangerous ideology that has spread across the globe. Wake up, world!
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One of the most devastating visits we had was in Madjal Shams, a Druze village in most northern part of Israel, where 12 children were killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah. The children were playing soccer when the attack happened. Three of their fathers spoke with us on the same field where the tragedy occurred. It was incredibly heartbreaking. One of the fathers, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, arrived on the scene after hearing the sirens, only to find his daughter’s body. Despite his personal loss, he immediately worked to save the other injured children. A true hero.
When asked what they hoped for in the wake of such a devastating loss, all of them responded with one word: peace. Not ceasefire. Peace. Not revenge, not justice—though what justice could there ever be after the death of a child? They want peace. They stand with Israel, they pray for the hostages, and above all, they want peace for all.
