Today’s suggested actions to support Israel in your local community:

  • Host an Empty Shabbat Table event to raise awareness for the remaining hostages being held by Hamas terrorists. Click here for a toolkit for support in your community’s efforts.
  • Join us for an informative training session on November 28 from 12-1 pm ET to share best practices and learn from other communities that are tackling anti-Zionism and antisemitism in the K-12 education space. Click here to register.
  • Call your elected officials and ask that they strongly support critical security assistance for Israel in its fight to destroy Hamas.
  • Read and share the story of 18-year-old Itay Regev, who spent the night at the Supernova music festival with his sister Maya when the two were abducted by Hamas terrorists. According to their mother, Itay loves “to surf, to laugh, to live.” Maya was released from Gaza, while Itay still remains in captivity.

Issue:
In developments that have captivated Israeli society, 39 Israeli hostages and 18 foreign nationals were released from Gaza during the first three days of a negotiated deal, after they were brutally abducted by Hamas terrorists in defiance of international law. Almost all the hostages still have immediate family members being held in Gaza or have come out to discover that loved ones had been murdered on October 7th. The fourth stage of the hostage release is currently underway. According to reports, an agreement is in the works to extend the humanitarian pause by two days in return for the release of additional hostages. Below are stories of some of the hostages that have been freed from captivity:

Background:

  • Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, was abducted into Gaza on a golf cart. After seeing videos of her grandmother surrounded by armed Palestinians, Yaffa’s granddaughter Adva shared, “You can see there, she’s sitting trying to show them she’s not afraid and she’s not hurt. And, you know, if they will take her, they will take her with her pride.” After 50 days in Gaza captivity, she returned to her three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
  • Avigayil Idan is a dual Israeli-American citizen who turned four-years-old in captivity. Both her parents were murdered during the October 7th attacks when Hamas terrorists entered their home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Avigayil’s father was shot while she was in her father’s arms. Still covered in her father’s blood, she ran out of her home and was abducted by Hamas terrorists. “Who brushes her teeth? Who holds her? Who pats her head when she is crying,” her uncle asked in an interview. After she was released back to Israel, President Joe Biden told reporters that he wishes he was there to hold her.
  • Ohad Munder just marked his nineth birthday in Gaza. He was released along with his mother and grandmother, but his grandfather still remains in captivity. Since he missed his birthday celebration, his friends threw an ice cream party for him at the hospital, and he received a visit from his beloved Hapoel Be’er Sheva soccer team.
  • Emily Hand spent 50 days in Hamas captivity without any family, after she was abducted from a friend’s house during a sleepover. The nine-year old girl had been believed to have been killed, and her father was interviewed saying that he was grateful to think that she was dead than to imagine the horrors that she would experience in captivity. On Sunday, Emily was released and reunited with her father, two dogs and sister.
  • “Jimmy” Leano Pacheco, a 33-year-old Filipino citizen, lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz and worked as a caregiver for 80-year-old Amitai Ben Zvi, who was murdered on October 7th. Ben Zvi’s daughter shared that Jimmy had been caring for Amitai for the last four years, serving with “quiet, admirable devotion, always attentive to his needs and supportive in countless ways.” Following his release and reports of his remarkable dedication, the Israeli government shared that it will will provide lifetime benefits and stipends for Pacheco.
  • Thirteen-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani was released from Hamas captivity, but without her mother, in violation of the signed agreement that stipulated that children will not be separated from their mothers. Hamas claims that it could not locate her mother, despite Hila saying they had been together until just two days before her release.
  • Seventeen-year-old Noam Or and his 13-year-old sister Alma were seen dragged out of their Kibbutz Be’eri home by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. Their mother was murdered that same day. When the children were freed from captivity, the family had to tell them the terrible news.
  • Adina Moshe, 72-years-old, was the first identified hostage who was released on Friday. A resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, she was kidnapped during the October 7th attacks while her 75-year-old husband was murdered in front of her eyes and she was dragged through a window by terrorists, as her house was burning to the ground. Family members learned of her abduction through a Hamas video posted on social media. Adina was shown pushing away the hand of a Hamas terrorist during her transfer to the Red Cross. She told her family that until that moment, she thought she was being taken to her execution and that she had been held underground for the duration of the 50 days in captivity.
  • Alma Avraham, 84-years-old, was denied medication in captivity and was released in critical condition. She is being treated in Soroka hospital and remains intubated and on respiratory support. During a phone call with her son on October 7th, he could hear shouting in Arabic outside her home. When he visited his mother’s home later that evening, it was rampaged and her bed tipped over.

Community Spotlight

JCRC of Minnesota and the Dakotas sent an open letter signed by 783 stakeholders to leadership of Minneapolis Public Schools, after the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers posted an “Israel-Palestine Resolution” that endorsed the BDS movement and failed to condemn Hamas for the October 7th attacks. The letter demanded that the school district distance itself from the resolution and hold a district-wide conversation about antisemitism.

The Community Mobilization Center is monitoring major developments in Israel and North America related to Israel’s war against Hamas. The Community Mobilization Center will rapidly disseminate resources to help mobilize and support our local communities as they build and sustain civic and political support for Israel in this conflict. The work of the Community Mobilization Center will continue as long as it takes Israel to eradicate the terrorist threat and restore security to the country.