Conversation circles that took place this evening (Sunday) in Nof HaGilil with family members of abductees and residents of the city enabled a tense but respectful discussion between those with different and opposing positions on the abductee deal and the continuation of the war. The meeting, which opened with the lighting of the fifth Hanukkah candle, was initiated by two mission communities living in the city: the urban kibbutz of Sha’ul, of the graduates of the ‘Immigrant Camps’ movement, and the Torah nucleus, which operates in the city as part of the fund for the renewal of communities in Israel.
Three members of abducted families arrived at the community center in the Har Yona neighborhood, and told their story: Dalia Kushnir, sister-in-law of the abductees Yair and Eitan Horan of Nir Oz; Gal Goren, the son of Maya and Avner Goren, the late Manir Oz, whose mother was kidnapped and murdered in captivity and whose body was returned to Israel in July, and whose father was murdered in a kibbutz; and Nirit Levi Alon, the mother of Noam Alon, the partner of the late Inbar Himan, who was kidnapped from the Nova party and murdered in captivity Hamas, and her body is still held by Hamas.
At the opening of the event, a video produced by the Olim camps movement was shown about Eitan Horn, who was a regional coordinator in the movement, and a video about the late Inbar Himan. After that, a section written by Gal Goren about his parents Avner and Maya was read. Tomer Zeit, a member of Kibbutz Mas’aul and the organizers of the event, said: “They came People come here from all over the city, from different places. We are happy to host you. We came to see, meet and get to know each other.” Rabbi Dobi Holtz, Rabbi of the Torah nucleus, emphasized the importance of the meeting: “There are parts of our people who do not have the opportunity to meet. We should give the opportunity to be a part of it. Hanukkah is a holiday of heroism. Each one is a small light, and together a strong light. We wanted to increase the light as much as possible, even in times that are darker.”
Nirit Lavi Alon thanked the people who came. “I don’t know if our stories will bring light, because I feel in the dark,” she said, “but there are also bright spots. It’s not obvious that so many came in this cold, so thank you.”
***
After the opening, those present were divided into three discussion circles, where members of the families of the abductees told their stories and an open conversation was held. The shocking story of Gal Goren led to a stormy discussion.
“On the morning of the seventh of October, I was on a diving course in Eilat,” said Goren, “I call my mother, it feels like another normal round. Fifteen minutes later, the first message is sent reporting terrorists in the kibbutz. Lots and lots of messages and news and information begin, also from other kibbutzim. At quarter past eight I Talking to my mother for the last time (Maya Goren was on the morning of October 7 at the Kindergarten in Nir Oz, where she worked as a kindergarten teacher, and was preparing it for rehearsal from the Sukkot holiday – Ger). She says she heard gunshots, and hopes it’s the army, but it wasn’t. The last contact with her is disconnected at about 09:30.
“At 10:30 I talk to father for the last time. I ask him if the army has arrived, he said he has no idea and that the situation is difficult. At 10:43 the connection is disconnected. My brothers Asif Weber and sister Dekal send a message every ten minutes. Many messages arrive from the kibbutz , ‘They are shooting at us’, ‘They are trying to burn us’.
“On that day, 130 terrorists entered in the opening blow alone, from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. From there the flow did not stop, I heard all kinds of numbers. In the 13:00-12:30 area, Hamas retreated of its own accord. At 13:30 not a single terrorist remained In the kibbutz, a single jeep of the IMM unit entered the area between 14:00 and 13:45, and this was the first entry of troops. the security Later, forces from the fleet and Nut also arrived. The security forces did not fire a single bullet at Nir Oz. Only the standby class, most of which were murdered or kidnapped or both. They held an impossible battle for two and a half hours.
“At 5:30 p.m. I’m kind of breathing a sigh of relief. My brothers Bar and Dekal are rescued. In the scans, they didn’t find the mother or the father. 70 percent of Nir Oz’s physical body was burned directly. There are about five houses that were not touched, which is accidental. Bar and Dekal arrive at the house The parents, and there is no sign of the parents, at eight in the evening they refer my friend Nir Oz to Eilat, where I was.
“On the third day I returned to my military service, as an instructor in Eilat in the national mission section of the Nahal route. It was an act of survival.
“On the ninth day of the war, the state contacted us for the first time. On October 16, both my parents were identified as abductees. Two days after that, father was found in the fields and identified as murdered. We buried him.
“After a week of seven, and another week and a half in the hotel, I returned to the service. We continue. We are a little far from the struggle to return the kidnapped at this stage. The struggle is very, very, very difficult.
“In the middle of November, salvation comes, and the first and only ceasefire so far is signed. An agreement that saved the lives of 105 people. Every day, basically every hour in this agreement is a roller coaster. In the evening you get a call: Mom is not on the list.
“The moment the abductees leave is a moment of relief. 40 residents and members of the kibbutz were released as part of the first deal. And again the phone call that mother does not return. Until the 55th day, when the deal explodes.
“Just before the transaction, in mid-November, we receive accurate information about Mother’s kidnapping. First meeting with the intelligence officer who accompanied us for several months, and he tells us that she is injured. A week later, a medical officer tells us a sentence that I will never forget: “She was injured in which requires immediate life-saving treatment.
“In December, they inform us that mother is not alive, and explain how they realized that she was murdered. Actually, from the moment we received information from the security cameras, the story was quite clear to us, and the additional evidence was only to verify, and with their help we finally understood that she was murdered. As for father, we know that he was taken from the house, and found Him in the field, and we don’t know what happened in the middle.”
“In January we begin to join the struggle for the return of the abducted, and in February I join in a more serious way. In May I am released from the army, and since then I have been full-time in the struggle. Until July 24, when the news arrives that I call a miracle – my mother’s body was recovered. Not because I am disrespectful in the activity of the security forces, except that the chance of finding abductees in a specific branching of a tunnel tends to zero, and these are the words of the commander of Division 98. It is possible to save more isolated people in a military operation.
“Over time, we, the families, publish things we didn’t think we would publish and didn’t want to publish, in order to exert pressure.”
“In July, I take a break from the struggle and enroll in studies at Emek Jezreel Academic College. When the news comes about more abductees who have been murdered, I realize that I can’t really not be in the struggle and return to it. At the same time, I start studying social work.
Goren shows those present a photo of the abducted David Kunio from Nir Oz. “When he and Sharon arrived at the kibbutz, they moved to live next to my parents’ house, and his children, Emma and Yuli, joined my mother’s kindergarten. When the corona quarantine started, Mom helped Sharon a lot. She calls her mother ‘Emma and Yuli’s third grandmother’.” On the seventh of October, the four members of the family were kidnapped. Sharon and her daughters were released in the first kidnapping deal, David remained in captivity. “The release of Sharon, Emma and Yuli is one of the happiest moments I’ve experienced,” Goren says, “but David stayed there.”
***
Goren talks about the feelings involved in Nir Oz in relation to returning to the kibbutz, and what, in his view, needs to happen in order to return. “There is a small group that is certain that they will not return, and a small group that is certain that they will return. The majority are in the middle, not sure. As far as I am concerned, rehabilitation cannot begin before the return of the abductees and a state commission of inquiry that will restore trust in the government and the security forces.”
This statement opened a poignant discussion. One of the Torah nuclear companies tells Goren that she has a hard time with his statement that a deal must be made at any cost. “I think there are two values without which the State of Israel cannot continue: mutual guarantee and the sanctity of life. For years they have been neglected, and the result is October Seven. I believe that even without sitting in the Gaza Strip we are able to defend ourselves. In my opinion, the success of defending is related to maintaining these values, sanctity Life and mutual guarantee”.
A member of the Torah core asks about the mutual guarantee: on the one hand, there is a guarantee for the abductees, but if Hamas members return to the Strip in the deal, then the residents of the Otaf will be harmed. Goren replies: “My perception is that if we assume that what was will be, then we have no future. We are the people, and we can demand and act to change the situation.”
Another member of the Tory nucleus says: “If Hamas returns to Gaza, children will only be able to grow up in Madinah Square. Our borders will be empty.”
Goren: “If we stand up for it enough and want to, we can defend ourselves. We are not used to imagining a different reality than what we know. For decades we have gotten used to not taking the initiative and not doing anything, so we rightly think that if we leave the Strip we will continue to do nothing. We have to resort to Other means It’s hard to imagine it because we did it differently.
“We have to imagine that we are capable as citizens of pressuring the government to activate the army. There was a range of actions that were not done. For example, assassinations of Hamas leaders, six during the Netanyahu period and one during the Lapid and Bennett periods, which were not done. Or the Tzelzel unit in the Mossad, which could have financially strangled Hamas and was closed in Abaha “.
Rabbi Holtz: “Until we see it happen, the leaders act differently or we are put under pressure, this proposal is very scary.”
Yair Raviv, Kibbutz Mas’aul: “As a leftist, I say that the State of Israel largely gave up, and we gave up together, the ability to defend our borders in these years. This was true in Gaza, that with small forces it was possible to stop the Hamas attack. In Lebanon, there were Greater forces are needed. Jordan is also a complex border.
“If we don’t have the ability to protect the borders, we won’t be able to exist. This is one of the amendments. And it is part of the discourse that is not taking place this year. And I think it is also related to the question of the abductees
Someone asks Goren if he believes there is a chance for a deal. According to him, “Everything is based on speculation, there are leaks from everywhere. Unfortunately, as the military pressure continues, abductees are killed accidentally, or due to IDF activity near them without awareness. From certain indications we know that apparently Hamas will not agree to a deal that does not include the end of the war. I say indications, because a terrorist organization cannot be believed, but if possible, I think that a deal should be made for all the abductees in order to end the war.
“I am wondering about the end of the war, with every soldier who falls and more widows and orphans. It is not clear to me how a country whose concept of security was short and quick wars is in an ongoing war. From our side, too, I am not clear if it is right to sustain it.”
The circle did not end in agreement. Yair Raviv of Kibbutz Mas’aul concluded: “The ability to sit together, people with different positions, is one of the most important amendments we need to make. We may not agree, but it is clear to me that everyone here cares about the abductees, and they care, regardless of their position on this deal or else”.
