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Heroes of October 7th and Beyond

The Hostages | Heroes of October 7th and Beyond

April 26, 2026 | S1:E6 | 49:57

The Hostages | Heroes of October 7th and Beyond
Erick Stakelbeck hosts a look at the heroic acts of people during the October 7th attacks.
#Israel #Terrorism #War #Tragedy #Violence #Inspirational #Courage #ErickStakelbeck

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Heroes of October 7th and Beyond | The Hostages | Heroes of October 7th and Beyond | April 26, 2026
  • Yotam sent a message:
  • 00:00:02.025 --> 00:00:04.360
  • "if i will not survive, just know that i love you."
  • 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:07.464
  • Then he disappeared.
  • 00:00:07.464 --> 00:00:08.731
  • He was holding a knife about this long,
  • 00:00:08.731 --> 00:00:11.201
  • Like right in front of our face.
  • 00:00:11.201 --> 00:00:12.836
  • It was clear to me that we were being kidnapped.
  • 00:00:12.836 --> 00:00:15.305
  • Our eyes crossed, like me and you,
  • 00:00:15.305 --> 00:00:17.907
  • And i understood that he's taking me to gaza.
  • 00:00:17.907 --> 00:00:20.643
  • On october 7th, 2023,
  • 00:00:20.643 --> 00:00:23.179
  • Hamas dragged more than 250 men, women, children,
  • 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:28.384
  • And grandparents from israel into gaza.
  • 00:00:28.384 --> 00:00:32.689
  • Every day there is abuse.
  • 00:00:32.689 --> 00:00:35.358
  • We didn't know what to do.
  • 00:00:35.358 --> 00:00:36.726
  • We didn't have nobody to contact.
  • 00:00:36.726 --> 00:00:39.662
  • Explosion, things were flying in the air.
  • 00:00:39.662 --> 00:00:41.931
  • I understood what's going on
  • 00:00:41.931 --> 00:00:43.266
  • Because no one will shoot inside of this house
  • 00:00:43.266 --> 00:00:46.002
  • Except of israeli forces.
  • 00:00:46.002 --> 00:00:47.704
  • I'm promising myself that i must survive
  • 00:00:47.704 --> 00:00:50.673
  • And i must get back to my family.
  • 00:00:50.673 --> 00:01:05.488
  • Imagine this:
  • 00:01:05.855 --> 00:01:07.590
  • You're asleep in your bed
  • 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:09.726
  • Where your child is.
  • 00:01:09.726 --> 00:01:11.161
  • Maybe it's your mother, your grandmother.
  • 00:01:11.161 --> 00:01:17.267
  • Suddenly the door bursts open.
  • 00:01:17.967 --> 00:01:20.670
  • Masked men with rifles storm in.
  • 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:23.940
  • You're dragged, screaming into the pale early morning light
  • 00:01:25.108 --> 00:01:29.345
  • By evil in human form.
  • 00:01:29.345 --> 00:01:31.614
  • Thrown onto the back of a motorbike.
  • 00:01:32.415 --> 00:01:35.218
  • Your neighbors are being slaughtered.
  • 00:01:35.218 --> 00:01:37.720
  • And as you're carried across the border,
  • 00:01:37.720 --> 00:01:40.456
  • The crowds don't recoil in horror.
  • 00:01:40.456 --> 00:01:43.793
  • They cheer.
  • 00:01:43.793 --> 00:01:45.595
  • They hit you, spit on you,
  • 00:01:45.595 --> 00:01:47.797
  • Try to tear at you.
  • 00:01:47.797 --> 00:01:50.200
  • In your terror, you cling to your captor,
  • 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:53.203
  • Not out of trust,
  • 00:01:53.203 --> 00:01:55.038
  • But out of fear of what the mob might do to you.
  • 00:01:55.038 --> 00:01:58.575
  • Then the tunnel swallows you.
  • 00:01:58.575 --> 00:02:03.112
  • Darkness, chains,
  • 00:02:03.546 --> 00:02:05.748
  • Hunger, abuse.
  • 00:02:05.748 --> 00:02:07.550
  • Days become weeks, weeks blur into months.
  • 00:02:07.550 --> 00:02:11.854
  • You're not a soldier.
  • 00:02:11.854 --> 00:02:13.256
  • You're not a prisoner of war.
  • 00:02:13.256 --> 00:02:15.792
  • You're an innocent civilian.
  • 00:02:15.792 --> 00:02:18.361
  • And you've become a pawn,
  • 00:02:18.361 --> 00:02:20.263
  • Leverage for a terror organization
  • 00:02:20.263 --> 00:02:23.233
  • More barbaric than the barbarians of old.
  • 00:02:23.233 --> 00:02:28.271
  • This isn't a nightmare.
  • 00:02:28.771 --> 00:02:30.707
  • This is the reality that began on october 7th, 2023,
  • 00:02:30.707 --> 00:02:35.478
  • When hamas dragged more than 250
  • 00:02:35.478 --> 00:02:38.881
  • Men, women, children, and grandparents
  • 00:02:38.881 --> 00:02:42.652
  • From israel into gaza.
  • 00:02:42.652 --> 00:02:46.089
  • From that moment, israel's war had two fronts.
  • 00:02:47.023 --> 00:02:50.860
  • One in the battlefield, the other in the shadows.
  • 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:54.664
  • The war for the hostages.
  • 00:02:54.664 --> 00:02:57.200
  • Families thrown into a torment of silence,
  • 00:02:57.200 --> 00:03:00.536
  • Left to wonder, is my daughter alive?
  • 00:03:00.536 --> 00:03:03.673
  • Does my father have his medicine?
  • 00:03:03.673 --> 00:03:05.875
  • Is my son in the dark waiting for me?
  • 00:03:05.875 --> 00:03:09.479
  • The world has seen hostages paraded
  • 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.115
  • In cruel videos, emaciated and pale,
  • 00:03:12.115 --> 00:03:15.385
  • Forced to beg for their lives, even digging their own graves.
  • 00:03:15.385 --> 00:03:20.290
  • Each image burned into israel's heart.
  • 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:24.661
  • And yet, alongside the horror came defiance.
  • 00:03:24.661 --> 00:03:28.965
  • Families refused to stay quiet.
  • 00:03:28.965 --> 00:03:31.601
  • They marched. they took the faces of their loved ones
  • 00:03:31.601 --> 00:03:34.637
  • To capitals across the globe, crying out:
  • 00:03:34.637 --> 00:03:38.408
  • Bring them home!
  • 00:03:38.408 --> 00:03:40.310
  • Israel launched daring rescues.
  • 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:42.645
  • Some came home alive, fragile but breathing.
  • 00:03:42.645 --> 00:03:46.582
  • Others returned in body bags.
  • 00:03:46.582 --> 00:03:50.386
  • Then came a chilling warning.
  • 00:03:51.054 --> 00:03:53.289
  • After a successful idf hostage rescue,
  • 00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:56.392
  • Hamas executed six hostages,
  • 00:03:56.392 --> 00:03:59.562
  • Leaving their bodies in a rafah tunnel,
  • 00:03:59.562 --> 00:04:02.198
  • As a statement that any further rescue attempts
  • 00:04:02.198 --> 00:04:05.802
  • Would be met with immediate brutality.
  • 00:04:05.802 --> 00:04:09.339
  • In november, a fragile deal brought a wave of hostages back,
  • 00:04:09.339 --> 00:04:14.711
  • Each reunion a miracle.
  • 00:04:14.711 --> 00:04:17.180
  • But it was also marked by unbearable heartbreak.
  • 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:20.817
  • The bibas family became the face of that pain.
  • 00:04:20.817 --> 00:04:24.387
  • Shiri, a young mother,
  • 00:04:24.387 --> 00:04:25.955
  • Clutching her two red-haired boys,
  • 00:04:25.955 --> 00:04:28.524
  • Ariel, just four, and kfir, only nine months old.
  • 00:04:28.524 --> 00:04:33.096
  • They were dragged from their home in nir oz
  • 00:04:33.096 --> 00:04:35.698
  • On october 7th.
  • 00:04:35.698 --> 00:04:37.166
  • Their images seared into the nation's memory.
  • 00:04:37.166 --> 00:04:40.737
  • Their father, yarden, was taken too, held separately,
  • 00:04:40.737 --> 00:04:44.807
  • Never knowing what became of his family.
  • 00:04:44.807 --> 00:04:47.944
  • For months, israel prayed they might be returned alive.
  • 00:04:47.944 --> 00:04:52.682
  • But then in february, coffins arrived.
  • 00:04:52.682 --> 00:04:56.252
  • Inside were the remains of ariel and kfir,
  • 00:04:56.252 --> 00:04:59.722
  • Murdered in captivity, and their mother, shiri.
  • 00:04:59.722 --> 00:05:03.159
  • Yet even in death, hamas played cruel games,
  • 00:05:03.159 --> 00:05:06.729
  • Handing over a coffin, carrying the wrong remains
  • 00:05:06.729 --> 00:05:10.767
  • Before she was ultimately returned.
  • 00:05:10.767 --> 00:05:13.336
  • The country wept.
  • 00:05:13.336 --> 00:05:14.871
  • Yarden came home to nothing but loss.
  • 00:05:14.871 --> 00:05:18.408
  • And the bibas family became a symbol
  • 00:05:18.408 --> 00:05:21.177
  • Of innocence destroyed, of cruelty beyond words,
  • 00:05:21.177 --> 00:05:25.415
  • And of a nation's unbreakable vow
  • 00:05:25.415 --> 00:05:28.184
  • That no one will be forgotten.
  • 00:05:28.184 --> 00:05:31.320
  • After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity,
  • 00:05:31.320 --> 00:05:36.325
  • 20 courageous hostages are returning
  • 00:05:36.325 --> 00:05:39.629
  • To the glorious embrace of their families.
  • 00:05:39.629 --> 00:05:42.532
  • Finally, in october 2025, a u.s.-brokered ceasefire,
  • 00:05:42.532 --> 00:05:47.537
  • Publicly credited to president trump,
  • 00:05:47.537 --> 00:05:49.939
  • Brought home the remaining 20 living hostages.
  • 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:57.180
  • Then came the return of the fallen.
  • 00:05:57.947 --> 00:06:00.716
  • Bodies were brought back in stages.
  • 00:06:00.716 --> 00:06:03.219
  • These aren't names on a list.
  • 00:06:03.219 --> 00:06:05.221
  • These are people whose lives were changed forever.
  • 00:06:05.221 --> 00:06:08.825
  • On october 7th, keith siegel, a husband, father,
  • 00:06:09.826 --> 00:06:13.563
  • And grandfather, was dragged from his home
  • 00:06:13.563 --> 00:06:16.432
  • In kibbutz kfar aza by hamas terrorists.
  • 00:06:16.432 --> 00:06:19.836
  • His wife, aviva, was taken with him.
  • 00:06:19.836 --> 00:06:22.738
  • Aviva was released in the november hostage deal
  • 00:06:22.738 --> 00:06:25.608
  • But keith remained behind.
  • 00:06:25.608 --> 00:06:29.712
  • After 484 days in captivity, he
  • 00:06:30.413 --> 00:06:33.583
  • Finally came home as part of a ceasefire
  • 00:06:33.583 --> 00:06:36.252
  • And hostage release deal.
  • 00:06:36.252 --> 00:06:38.354
  • Let's meet keith siegel.
  • 00:06:38.354 --> 00:06:40.690
  • Keith, thank you so much for joining us.
  • 00:06:40.690 --> 00:06:42.959
  • We've got a lot to discuss, of course.
  • 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:45.094
  • Tell us about your life in kfar aza
  • 00:06:45.094 --> 00:06:47.497
  • With aviva, your four children, before october 7th.
  • 00:06:47.497 --> 00:06:52.034
  • We moved to kfar aza in 1983.
  • 00:06:52.034 --> 00:06:54.637
  • Very peaceful community.
  • 00:06:54.637 --> 00:06:57.006
  • Green, a lot of lawns and flowers and trees.
  • 00:06:57.006 --> 00:07:01.210
  • I was a farmer for 10 years.
  • 00:07:01.811 --> 00:07:03.946
  • The fields of kfar aza actually reached
  • 00:07:03.946 --> 00:07:05.581
  • The border of gaza and i would work late at night
  • 00:07:05.581 --> 00:07:08.551
  • Alone in the fields on a tractor
  • 00:07:08.551 --> 00:07:10.820
  • Driving to the border and back.
  • 00:07:10.820 --> 00:07:13.556
  • And always felt safe.
  • 00:07:13.556 --> 00:07:15.157
  • We had experienced over many years
  • 00:07:15.157 --> 00:07:17.293
  • Times of being under attack by gaza.
  • 00:07:17.293 --> 00:07:21.931
  • I felt that it was important to stay there,
  • 00:07:21.931 --> 00:07:25.468
  • Ideologically, to prove to hamas
  • 00:07:25.468 --> 00:07:28.337
  • That we cannot be forced out of our homes.
  • 00:07:28.337 --> 00:07:31.908
  • Never dreamed of anything close to what happened
  • 00:07:31.908 --> 00:07:36.579
  • On the 7th of october.
  • 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:40.650
  • Take us through the early parts of october 7th
  • 00:07:41.617 --> 00:07:44.954
  • For you and aviva.
  • 00:07:44.954 --> 00:07:46.989
  • We wake up on october the 7th
  • 00:07:46.989 --> 00:07:48.925
  • Around 6.30 a.m. the alarm went off
  • 00:07:48.925 --> 00:07:51.060
  • Letting us know that we have to get into the safe room
  • 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.629
  • As soon as possible.
  • 00:07:53.629 --> 00:07:54.897
  • There were a lot of rockets,
  • 00:07:54.897 --> 00:07:56.232
  • More than what we were used to.
  • 00:07:56.232 --> 00:07:58.601
  • It was a quote-unquote normal thing
  • 00:07:58.601 --> 00:08:00.403
  • To have rocket attacks from time to time.
  • 00:08:00.403 --> 00:08:03.172
  • So we didn't think this was anything different.
  • 00:08:03.172 --> 00:08:07.743
  • The kibbutz sent out a message
  • 00:08:08.411 --> 00:08:10.580
  • That there are many terrorists in the kibbutz.
  • 00:08:10.580 --> 00:08:13.082
  • We should all lock the doors and the windows
  • 00:08:13.082 --> 00:08:15.084
  • And stay in our safe room.
  • 00:08:15.084 --> 00:08:16.652
  • Hundreds of terrorists attacked kfar aza on that day.
  • 00:08:16.652 --> 00:08:20.823
  • 64 of our friends and neighbors were murdered.
  • 00:08:20.823 --> 00:08:23.993
  • 19 of us were kidnapped.
  • 00:08:24.493 --> 00:08:26.629
  • What led to ultimately your kidnapping by hamas terrorists?
  • 00:08:26.629 --> 00:08:31.300
  • We heard shooting and it seemed like it was close
  • 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:35.304
  • To our house and then it became distant.
  • 00:08:35.304 --> 00:08:38.441
  • I was thinking we're going to be okay.
  • 00:08:39.208 --> 00:08:42.478
  • And then the terrorists broke into our house.
  • 00:08:42.478 --> 00:08:45.615
  • They shot into the safe room.
  • 00:08:45.615 --> 00:08:47.583
  • They forced us out of the safe room.
  • 00:08:47.583 --> 00:08:49.485
  • They dragged me out.
  • 00:08:49.485 --> 00:08:50.987
  • We were in our pajamas standing in the living room
  • 00:08:50.987 --> 00:08:53.255
  • With around 15 terrorists, and they're all screaming
  • 00:08:53.255 --> 00:08:55.157
  • At each other, screaming at us,
  • 00:08:55.157 --> 00:08:56.792
  • And we're standing there.
  • 00:08:56.792 --> 00:08:58.294
  • A very, very violent, hostile situation.
  • 00:08:58.294 --> 00:09:02.365
  • They forced us out of the window
  • 00:09:02.365 --> 00:09:04.467
  • Of the back of our house.
  • 00:09:04.467 --> 00:09:05.835
  • Aviva was injured.
  • 00:09:05.835 --> 00:09:08.104
  • Her meniscus in her knee was torn.
  • 00:09:08.104 --> 00:09:10.740
  • Just by getting out through the window,
  • 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:12.942
  • They were pushing us.
  • 00:09:12.942 --> 00:09:14.477
  • My ribs were broken.
  • 00:09:14.477 --> 00:09:16.178
  • Both of us were scared, trying to comprehend
  • 00:09:16.178 --> 00:09:21.117
  • This is, like, so surreal,
  • 00:09:21.117 --> 00:09:24.620
  • So is this really happening?
  • 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:28.424
  • They take you out, and how soon did you know
  • 00:09:29.358 --> 00:09:33.596
  • You'd crossed over into gaza?
  • 00:09:33.596 --> 00:09:36.232
  • Once we were both in the car and driving off,
  • 00:09:36.232 --> 00:09:39.068
  • It was clear to me that we were being kidnapped.
  • 00:09:39.068 --> 00:09:42.438
  • I was sitting in the back seat,
  • 00:09:43.172 --> 00:09:45.007
  • On the right side, aviva was in the middle,
  • 00:09:45.007 --> 00:09:47.043
  • And a terrorist on aviva's left,
  • 00:09:47.043 --> 00:09:50.012
  • And he was holding a knife about this long,
  • 00:09:50.012 --> 00:09:52.548
  • Like right in front of our face.
  • 00:09:52.548 --> 00:09:54.316
  • And on the way, we saw a neighborhood of young people
  • 00:09:54.316 --> 00:09:58.621
  • In kfar aza that was hit especially hard.
  • 00:09:58.621 --> 00:10:01.657
  • They burned people alive in their house,
  • 00:10:01.657 --> 00:10:05.094
  • In their safe room.
  • 00:10:05.094 --> 00:10:06.295
  • So we saw all the black smoke
  • 00:10:06.295 --> 00:10:07.963
  • Coming up from this neighborhood.
  • 00:10:07.963 --> 00:10:10.399
  • Many youngsters were murdered and kidnapped.
  • 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.336
  • We went out of the gate.
  • 00:10:14.336 --> 00:10:15.771
  • You know, there's a fence that goes around the kibbutz,
  • 00:10:15.771 --> 00:10:18.374
  • And we're just driving towards gaza.
  • 00:10:18.374 --> 00:10:21.377
  • Across the border, they blindfolded us.
  • 00:10:22.211 --> 00:10:25.281
  • We were taken to a home,
  • 00:10:25.281 --> 00:10:27.616
  • Into the home, and down into a tunnel.
  • 00:10:27.616 --> 00:10:32.021
  • You know, cramped, everything is low ceiling,
  • 00:10:32.955 --> 00:10:36.192
  • Bumping our heads on the way.
  • 00:10:36.192 --> 00:10:38.227
  • We were in two tunnels.
  • 00:10:38.227 --> 00:10:39.895
  • The second tunnel we were in,
  • 00:10:39.895 --> 00:10:41.697
  • The terrorist told us that we're 40 meters underground.
  • 00:10:41.697 --> 00:10:45.801
  • I believe that's 130 feet.
  • 00:10:45.801 --> 00:10:48.304
  • We were gasping for breath, literally,
  • 00:10:48.304 --> 00:10:50.372
  • In this second tunnel we were in,
  • 00:10:50.372 --> 00:10:52.808
  • Which was a little later on.
  • 00:10:52.808 --> 00:10:53.909
  • So this first tunnel that we were in,
  • 00:10:53.909 --> 00:10:55.544
  • A young man from our community was brought in.
  • 00:10:55.544 --> 00:11:00.149
  • He was covered with blood from head to toe.
  • 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:02.451
  • They brought in a woman and her three children,
  • 00:11:03.385 --> 00:11:05.988
  • Also from our community.
  • 00:11:05.988 --> 00:11:07.590
  • Her daughter, age 17, i believe, at the time,
  • 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:11.460
  • And two sons, aged, i believe, 11 and 9.
  • 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:15.831
  • And the mother told us that they had murdered her husband
  • 00:11:15.831 --> 00:11:19.668
  • And her oldest daughter, like, right in front of them,
  • 00:11:19.668 --> 00:11:22.905
  • In their house, and after that,
  • 00:11:22.905 --> 00:11:25.641
  • They kidnapped the four of them.
  • 00:11:25.641 --> 00:11:27.443
  • They just watched their father and sister murdered. -yeah.
  • 00:11:27.443 --> 00:11:31.547
  • And there we are,
  • 00:11:31.981 --> 00:11:34.617
  • Armed terrorists all around us.
  • 00:11:35.284 --> 00:11:38.621
  • I mean, these two boys,
  • 00:11:38.621 --> 00:11:40.623
  • The age of my grandchildren, more or less,
  • 00:11:40.623 --> 00:11:42.958
  • So kind of trying to help each other
  • 00:11:42.958 --> 00:11:47.263
  • And just support each other any way we can.
  • 00:11:47.263 --> 00:11:51.433
  • You were moved 33 times during your time in captivity,
  • 00:11:51.433 --> 00:11:56.505
  • Which lasted for 484 days overall.
  • 00:11:56.505 --> 00:11:59.809
  • Yes. -but aviva gets out earlier.
  • 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:03.646
  • 51 horrific days in captivity for her.
  • 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.017
  • You're together.
  • 00:12:08.384 --> 00:12:09.652
  • Tell us what led up to aviva's release.
  • 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.889
  • This is something that was very important for me
  • 00:12:14.857 --> 00:12:16.725
  • That people know.
  • 00:12:16.725 --> 00:12:18.127
  • They had brought a woman hostage to us
  • 00:12:18.127 --> 00:12:21.397
  • Who had been held by herself for three weeks.
  • 00:12:22.298 --> 00:12:25.868
  • Had experienced severe sexual violence,
  • 00:12:25.868 --> 00:12:28.571
  • Sexual attack, assault. -at the hands of hamas terrorists.
  • 00:12:28.571 --> 00:12:32.441
  • Yes, while she was held alone, chained to a bed
  • 00:12:32.441 --> 00:12:36.078
  • For the first three weeks,
  • 00:12:36.078 --> 00:12:38.147
  • From the 7th of october until they brought her to us.
  • 00:12:39.215 --> 00:12:43.953
  • They were accusing her of having a position in the idf,
  • 00:12:43.953 --> 00:12:47.656
  • Which was not true.
  • 00:12:47.656 --> 00:12:49.391
  • One day, they took this woman into a room,
  • 00:12:49.391 --> 00:12:51.927
  • Closed the door, and then they came to me
  • 00:12:51.927 --> 00:12:53.996
  • And they told me that i must tell her to confess
  • 00:12:53.996 --> 00:12:57.266
  • To what they were accusing her of,
  • 00:12:57.266 --> 00:12:59.001
  • And i knew it wasn't true.
  • 00:12:59.001 --> 00:13:00.469
  • They brought me into this room, and i saw this woman
  • 00:13:00.469 --> 00:13:04.273
  • Lying on her back on the floor.
  • 00:13:04.273 --> 00:13:06.308
  • Her hands were tied together.
  • 00:13:06.308 --> 00:13:08.544
  • Her feet were tied together.
  • 00:13:08.544 --> 00:13:10.479
  • They had covered her mouth.
  • 00:13:10.479 --> 00:13:13.082
  • There were three terrorists in the room.
  • 00:13:13.082 --> 00:13:15.651
  • Two of them were taking turns beating her
  • 00:13:15.651 --> 00:13:18.787
  • With a rod, and the third one
  • 00:13:18.787 --> 00:13:21.457
  • Was standing behind this woman,
  • 00:13:21.457 --> 00:13:24.059
  • And he was holding a sharp metal rod
  • 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:27.096
  • With a point at the end of it
  • 00:13:27.096 --> 00:13:29.031
  • That he had put on her forehead, and he was like,
  • 00:13:29.031 --> 00:13:32.234
  • You know, like this, applying pressure,
  • 00:13:32.234 --> 00:13:34.937
  • Forcing this rod,
  • 00:13:34.937 --> 00:13:36.639
  • Like the pointed rod on this woman's forehead,
  • 00:13:37.606 --> 00:13:41.577
  • And i'm there, and they had told me what they told me to do,
  • 00:13:41.577 --> 00:13:48.083
  • And...
  • 00:13:48.317 --> 00:13:51.220
  • That's what i did.
  • 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:52.888
  • I told her to confess,
  • 00:13:52.888 --> 00:13:54.456
  • Knowing that she had nothing to confess to,
  • 00:13:54.456 --> 00:13:56.992
  • And the more i...
  • 00:13:57.426 --> 00:13:59.061
  • I experienced more and more distress by telling the story
  • 00:13:59.061 --> 00:14:02.498
  • And by just thinking that
  • 00:14:02.498 --> 00:14:06.769
  • Maybe i could have rescued this woman somehow.
  • 00:14:07.736 --> 00:14:10.539
  • After that, they took her out of the room,
  • 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.876
  • And they put her down on her knees,
  • 00:14:13.876 --> 00:14:17.046
  • And they, he put a pistol to her head like this
  • 00:14:17.046 --> 00:14:20.049
  • Right in front of me, and he said:
  • 00:14:20.049 --> 00:14:21.717
  • "if you don't confess now, i'm going to kill you."
  • 00:14:21.717 --> 00:14:27.222
  • So to like fast forward to...
  • 00:14:27.890 --> 00:14:31.026
  • To your question,
  • 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:33.128
  • On the 25th of november, they separated us.
  • 00:14:33.128 --> 00:14:36.098
  • They took me to a separate room,
  • 00:14:36.832 --> 00:14:39.034
  • Aviva and this woman to a separate room.
  • 00:14:39.034 --> 00:14:41.637
  • After a while, aviva came to tell me
  • 00:14:41.637 --> 00:14:43.472
  • That they told her
  • 00:14:43.472 --> 00:14:44.873
  • That she was going to be released the next day,
  • 00:14:44.873 --> 00:14:46.742
  • That they were going to take her,
  • 00:14:46.742 --> 00:14:48.544
  • And that i would be released the day after.
  • 00:14:48.544 --> 00:14:51.246
  • So, yeah, i remained with this other woman.
  • 00:14:51.246 --> 00:14:54.216
  • The next day, we saw aviva being released on television,
  • 00:14:54.216 --> 00:14:58.253
  • We saw her being taken out
  • 00:14:58.854 --> 00:15:01.957
  • Of the hamas car to the red cross,
  • 00:15:01.957 --> 00:15:05.194
  • This crowd that were screaming
  • 00:15:05.194 --> 00:15:07.229
  • And banging on the red cross vehicle.
  • 00:15:07.229 --> 00:15:10.799
  • It was a combination of relief
  • 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:13.102
  • That aviva had been taken out of this horrific situation,
  • 00:15:13.102 --> 00:15:17.306
  • But also anxious and fear that...
  • 00:15:17.306 --> 00:15:20.909
  • For her safety.
  • 00:15:21.276 --> 00:15:23.178
  • You ultimately were not released the following day.
  • 00:15:23.178 --> 00:15:27.750
  • What was your view then?
  • 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:30.452
  • Mainly, i was worried
  • 00:15:30.953 --> 00:15:32.554
  • That they would release me
  • 00:15:33.122 --> 00:15:35.357
  • And this woman that i talked about before,
  • 00:15:35.357 --> 00:15:40.295
  • The thought of me leaving, of them releasing me
  • 00:15:40.295 --> 00:15:43.599
  • And leaving her behind really haunted me.
  • 00:15:43.599 --> 00:15:46.835
  • So on thursday, the 30th of november,
  • 00:15:46.835 --> 00:15:49.271
  • They told her that she was going to be released,
  • 00:15:49.271 --> 00:15:52.908
  • And i was relieved.
  • 00:15:52.908 --> 00:15:56.812
  • Time just stretches on.
  • 00:15:57.312 --> 00:15:59.114
  • You move from house to house.
  • 00:15:59.114 --> 00:16:02.117
  • Are you thinking, i'm never going to get out of here?
  • 00:16:02.117 --> 00:16:05.387
  • Is there points where you lose hope?
  • 00:16:05.387 --> 00:16:07.523
  • I'm thinking about my family.
  • 00:16:08.157 --> 00:16:11.193
  • Their suffering is much greater than mine, and...
  • 00:16:11.193 --> 00:16:16.565
  • I'm promising myself that,
  • 00:16:17.132 --> 00:16:21.270
  • I must survive and i must get back to my family.
  • 00:16:22.237 --> 00:16:27.109
  • I must
  • 00:16:27.342 --> 00:16:30.379
  • Bring an end to the suffering that they're going through.
  • 00:16:31.547 --> 00:16:35.350
  • So i'm believing
  • 00:16:35.717 --> 00:16:38.654
  • That i must do whatever i can to suffer
  • 00:16:39.455 --> 00:16:41.890
  • Both physically and mentally,
  • 00:16:41.890 --> 00:16:43.759
  • And surviving mentally means,
  • 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.663
  • Believing that i will get back and not losing hope.
  • 00:16:48.730 --> 00:16:53.302
  • After 484 days, keith,
  • 00:16:53.302 --> 00:16:56.438
  • You finally get word you're being released.
  • 00:16:57.339 --> 00:16:59.975
  • Tell us what surrounded that
  • 00:17:00.609 --> 00:17:02.211
  • And what that day was like.
  • 00:17:02.211 --> 00:17:03.846
  • Yes, they told me two days
  • 00:17:03.846 --> 00:17:06.548
  • To answer your question before i was released
  • 00:17:06.548 --> 00:17:08.851
  • And i was going to be released.
  • 00:17:08.851 --> 00:17:11.653
  • I was alone the last two months in captivity,
  • 00:17:11.653 --> 00:17:14.823
  • Dark, had to beg to go to the toilet, starved.
  • 00:17:14.823 --> 00:17:18.627
  • Every day there is abuse,
  • 00:17:18.627 --> 00:17:21.396
  • Whether it be direct physical or psychological
  • 00:17:21.396 --> 00:17:24.800
  • Or just the fact that you're there
  • 00:17:24.800 --> 00:17:28.604
  • And you have no idea when or even if you'll be released.
  • 00:17:28.604 --> 00:17:34.143
  • To put to the side the violence, the abuse,
  • 00:17:34.143 --> 00:17:37.312
  • The torture that i experienced
  • 00:17:37.312 --> 00:17:39.448
  • And i witnessed others experience,
  • 00:17:39.448 --> 00:17:41.850
  • Just not knowing and being disconnected.
  • 00:17:41.850 --> 00:17:51.960
  • Talk about your reunion with aviva,
  • 00:17:52.728 --> 00:17:54.930
  • Your kids and your grandkids, and how that was.
  • 00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:58.200
  • The red cross vehicle brought me
  • 00:17:58.934 --> 00:18:00.869
  • To where the idf were and they handed me over
  • 00:18:00.869 --> 00:18:04.373
  • And in front of me there was a camera
  • 00:18:04.373 --> 00:18:06.842
  • And they told me that my...
  • 00:18:06.842 --> 00:18:25.160
  • That my family were watching me,
  • 00:18:25.861 --> 00:18:27.429
  • They can see me now.
  • 00:18:27.429 --> 00:18:29.097
  • So i waved to them and i did a thumbs up.
  • 00:18:29.965 --> 00:18:33.835
  • Then they took me to a base, into a room,
  • 00:18:34.703 --> 00:18:39.408
  • With clean clothes and,
  • 00:18:39.908 --> 00:18:42.678
  • You know, shampoo, soap, everything.
  • 00:18:42.678 --> 00:18:45.914
  • They told me aviva and my son
  • 00:18:46.548 --> 00:18:49.084
  • Were waiting for me
  • 00:18:49.084 --> 00:18:50.852
  • And it's like...
  • 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:57.259
  • So much wanting to meet them
  • 00:18:57.893 --> 00:19:00.329
  • But so much wanting to be clean
  • 00:19:00.329 --> 00:19:03.031
  • When i meet them,
  • 00:19:03.465 --> 00:19:04.733
  • So like three times i scrubbed my body
  • 00:19:04.733 --> 00:19:09.204
  • With soap, rinsed, soap, scrubbed, rinsed,
  • 00:19:09.204 --> 00:19:14.443
  • And i know they're waiting for me
  • 00:19:14.443 --> 00:19:15.877
  • And i know how much we want to meet each other
  • 00:19:15.877 --> 00:19:19.948
  • But...
  • 00:19:20.182 --> 00:19:23.051
  • It's just crazy.
  • 00:19:23.418 --> 00:19:25.254
  • And while i'm in the shower, the doctor that was like
  • 00:19:25.254 --> 00:19:28.824
  • Right out of the room came into the room like three times.
  • 00:19:28.824 --> 00:19:31.960
  • "are you okay?" and this and that
  • 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:33.729
  • And "your wife and your son really want to see you",
  • 00:19:33.729 --> 00:19:36.832
  • And i'm like just wanting to get 484 days
  • 00:19:36.832 --> 00:19:43.305
  • Of filth off of my body.
  • 00:19:43.305 --> 00:19:48.710
  • I'm sorry. -oh, it's okay, keith.
  • 00:19:49.444 --> 00:19:51.380
  • 484 days i was never able to properly,
  • 00:19:51.380 --> 00:19:55.183
  • You know, wash.
  • 00:19:55.183 --> 00:19:59.955
  • I'm sorry.
  • 00:20:00.255 --> 00:20:01.923
  • Sometimes i go into details about things that...
  • 00:20:01.923 --> 00:20:05.260
  • No, it's okay.
  • 00:20:05.627 --> 00:20:07.763
  • It's an amazing reunion.
  • 00:20:08.263 --> 00:20:12.200
  • Keith, thank you for sharing your story.
  • 00:20:13.035 --> 00:20:15.370
  • We truly appreciate it. god bless you.
  • 00:20:15.370 --> 00:20:17.472
  • Thank you, keith. -thank you, eric. thank you.
  • 00:20:17.472 --> 00:20:26.081
  • Despite everything he endured,
  • 00:20:26.715 --> 00:20:29.017
  • Keith speaks less about his own suffering
  • 00:20:29.017 --> 00:20:32.187
  • And more about the suffering of others.
  • 00:20:32.187 --> 00:20:34.756
  • That instinct to put others first
  • 00:20:34.756 --> 00:20:37.259
  • Is something we see again and again.
  • 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:42.364
  • On october 7th, shlomi ziv was working security
  • 00:20:43.332 --> 00:20:47.102
  • At the nova music festival
  • 00:20:47.102 --> 00:20:49.571
  • When hamas stormed in.
  • 00:20:49.571 --> 00:20:51.673
  • Instead of fleeing, he stayed
  • 00:20:51.673 --> 00:20:53.842
  • To help others escape and was taken hostage himself.
  • 00:20:53.842 --> 00:20:58.080
  • For nearly eight months, he was held in gaza,
  • 00:20:58.080 --> 00:21:01.183
  • Enduring darkness, hunger, and humiliation.
  • 00:21:01.183 --> 00:21:04.986
  • His wife miran lived in torment, clinging to fragments of hope.
  • 00:21:04.986 --> 00:21:09.991
  • And then in june 2024 came the miracle,
  • 00:21:09.991 --> 00:21:13.695
  • A daring idf raid in nuseirat that brought shlomi home alive,
  • 00:21:13.695 --> 00:21:18.967
  • Along with three other hostages.
  • 00:21:18.967 --> 00:21:21.002
  • His story is one of survival, courage,
  • 00:21:21.002 --> 00:21:24.439
  • And the unbreakable human spirit.
  • 00:21:24.439 --> 00:21:26.775
  • Let's meet shlomi ziv.
  • 00:21:26.775 --> 00:21:29.344
  • Shlomi, thank you so much for joining us.
  • 00:21:29.344 --> 00:21:31.947
  • What brought you to the nova music festival
  • 00:21:31.947 --> 00:21:34.750
  • On october 7th, where you were working security?
  • 00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:38.053
  • My wife's cousin, aviv eliyahu,
  • 00:21:38.053 --> 00:21:40.355
  • He was the head of the security in the nova.
  • 00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:44.826
  • He knows my past in the military.
  • 00:21:44.826 --> 00:21:46.528
  • I was in a bomb patrol unit.
  • 00:21:46.528 --> 00:21:49.097
  • It was another time that we were going to war,
  • 00:21:49.097 --> 00:21:52.401
  • Celebrate on the way, it was holidays,
  • 00:21:52.401 --> 00:21:54.970
  • And enjoying while working.
  • 00:21:54.970 --> 00:21:58.373
  • But what began as a night of music and joy
  • 00:21:59.241 --> 00:22:02.210
  • For thousands dancing under the open sky
  • 00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:05.614
  • Turned into a morning massacre
  • 00:22:05.614 --> 00:22:07.682
  • When hamas terrorists stormed the festival.
  • 00:22:07.682 --> 00:22:11.553
  • You opened the gate, you let festival-goers out to escape.
  • 00:22:11.553 --> 00:22:14.656
  • Tell us about that, how you jumped into action.
  • 00:22:14.656 --> 00:22:18.427
  • Immediately i understood what's going on.
  • 00:22:18.427 --> 00:22:20.829
  • I understood that people would start to run.
  • 00:22:20.829 --> 00:22:22.764
  • And there was one gate that was the only way to run.
  • 00:22:22.764 --> 00:22:27.869
  • And i opened the gate, and everybody started to run.
  • 00:22:27.869 --> 00:22:31.473
  • You saved a lot of lives.
  • 00:22:32.073 --> 00:22:34.042
  • We saved a lot of lives.
  • 00:22:34.042 --> 00:22:35.010
  • All the security guys
  • 00:22:35.010 --> 00:22:36.311
  • That stayed there,
  • 00:22:36.311 --> 00:22:38.380
  • Most of them stayed. thank god.
  • 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:41.149
  • Then what happens to you?
  • 00:22:41.149 --> 00:22:43.118
  • You come face-to-face with hamas terrorists?
  • 00:22:43.118 --> 00:22:45.921
  • I'm running also, until my legs betrayed me.
  • 00:22:45.921 --> 00:22:49.157
  • No more power to run.
  • 00:22:49.157 --> 00:22:50.759
  • I decided to hide in a small bush.
  • 00:22:51.526 --> 00:22:54.262
  • After 10 minutes, i heard three israelis that are running,
  • 00:22:54.262 --> 00:23:00.101
  • 10 meters from me, they didn't see me.
  • 00:23:00.101 --> 00:23:02.938
  • I heard the gunshots.
  • 00:23:03.438 --> 00:23:04.873
  • Only one of them came back running:
  • 00:23:04.873 --> 00:23:07.409
  • "the terrorist is coming, the terrorist is coming."
  • 00:23:07.409 --> 00:23:10.579
  • I saw him in a bit of angle of my eye.
  • 00:23:10.579 --> 00:23:14.950
  • He didn't see me yet.
  • 00:23:14.950 --> 00:23:17.152
  • And after a second,
  • 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:20.355
  • Our eyes crossed like me and you.
  • 00:23:20.355 --> 00:23:23.391
  • And he told me to come out.
  • 00:23:23.391 --> 00:23:25.660
  • And i understood that he's taking me into gaza.
  • 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:28.230
  • If he didn't shoot, that's it.
  • 00:23:28.230 --> 00:23:30.966
  • This is what's going to be.
  • 00:23:30.966 --> 00:23:35.303
  • 246 days in captivity.
  • 00:23:35.804 --> 00:23:38.874
  • What was the treatment like
  • 00:23:38.874 --> 00:23:40.342
  • At the hands of the hamas terrorists?
  • 00:23:40.342 --> 00:23:42.711
  • It's not a place that it's a prison of war
  • 00:23:43.612 --> 00:23:47.215
  • Or something like that,
  • 00:23:47.215 --> 00:23:48.817
  • That you can say they get the rights.
  • 00:23:48.817 --> 00:23:51.853
  • Even the red cross didn't come to visit us.
  • 00:23:51.853 --> 00:23:54.623
  • They didn't follow the geneva accords?
  • 00:23:54.623 --> 00:23:56.057
  • Nothing, nothing.
  • 00:23:56.057 --> 00:23:57.225
  • So you can imagine what was going on there.
  • 00:23:57.225 --> 00:24:01.663
  • Violence, mental violence, everything.
  • 00:24:01.663 --> 00:24:04.733
  • Talk about the rescue. the idf comes.
  • 00:24:04.733 --> 00:24:07.636
  • You're taken out of captivity.
  • 00:24:07.636 --> 00:24:09.337
  • Did you know what was happening?
  • 00:24:09.337 --> 00:24:10.939
  • We didn't know anything.
  • 00:24:10.939 --> 00:24:12.340
  • It was a regular day in captivity.
  • 00:24:12.340 --> 00:24:15.210
  • Like always, if you want to go to the bathroom,
  • 00:24:15.210 --> 00:24:17.879
  • You need to get permission.
  • 00:24:17.879 --> 00:24:19.981
  • The way that everybody has,
  • 00:24:19.981 --> 00:24:21.583
  • And then we have one time to ask.
  • 00:24:21.583 --> 00:24:23.818
  • So it was the same in the morning.
  • 00:24:23.818 --> 00:24:26.154
  • We woke up.
  • 00:24:26.154 --> 00:24:27.455
  • Everyone said, okay, we need to go.
  • 00:24:27.455 --> 00:24:31.326
  • We asked the terrorists to go.
  • 00:24:31.326 --> 00:24:33.261
  • We managed to go to the bathroom,
  • 00:24:33.261 --> 00:24:35.530
  • Wash our faces with the salty water
  • 00:24:35.530 --> 00:24:38.133
  • That was there.
  • 00:24:38.133 --> 00:24:39.534
  • And everyone was sitting in this corner,
  • 00:24:39.534 --> 00:24:42.604
  • Reading something about islam,
  • 00:24:42.604 --> 00:24:44.105
  • Because we asked something to read,
  • 00:24:44.105 --> 00:24:46.408
  • Of course, about islam.
  • 00:24:46.408 --> 00:24:48.310
  • And suddenly explosion inside of the house,
  • 00:24:48.310 --> 00:24:51.046
  • From the side of where the terrorists were in the room.
  • 00:24:51.046 --> 00:24:54.716
  • And after a second gunshots.
  • 00:24:55.317 --> 00:25:06.928
  • I understood what's going on, because no one will shoot
  • 00:25:08.063 --> 00:25:10.532
  • Inside of this house except of israeli forces.
  • 00:25:10.532 --> 00:25:14.536
  • And after two seconds, someone is touching my hand
  • 00:25:15.537 --> 00:25:18.073
  • And speaking hebrew to me,
  • 00:25:18.073 --> 00:25:20.942
  • Like asking for my name.
  • 00:25:20.942 --> 00:25:23.678
  • He asked about the other guys.
  • 00:25:23.678 --> 00:25:25.180
  • They were hiding behind the mattress,
  • 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:27.716
  • Because there was an explosion.
  • 00:25:27.716 --> 00:25:29.684
  • Thing was flying in the air.
  • 00:25:29.684 --> 00:25:31.786
  • A big battle inside the house for six, seven minutes.
  • 00:25:31.786 --> 00:25:36.324
  • During this battle, we lost a big hero,
  • 00:25:36.324 --> 00:25:39.628
  • Arnon zmora, that our operation is in his name (posthumously).
  • 00:25:39.628 --> 00:25:43.832
  • The second that we had the chance to leave the house,
  • 00:25:43.832 --> 00:25:46.401
  • First they took arnon to take care of him.
  • 00:25:46.401 --> 00:25:48.870
  • Of course, he's wounded.
  • 00:25:48.870 --> 00:25:50.605
  • And then we tried to leave the building.
  • 00:25:50.605 --> 00:25:53.475
  • From everywhere, they came out and started shooting at us.
  • 00:25:53.475 --> 00:25:57.779
  • Again, yeah, until we got 30 seconds of running
  • 00:25:57.779 --> 00:26:02.050
  • To the armored trucks that was...
  • 00:26:02.050 --> 00:26:06.588
  • Did you think you may not make it out?
  • 00:26:06.588 --> 00:26:09.190
  • There was a lot of points that you say,
  • 00:26:09.190 --> 00:26:13.561
  • There is a chance of 50-50, of course.
  • 00:26:13.561 --> 00:26:16.164
  • Wow. i mean, it's just relentless gunfire.
  • 00:26:16.164 --> 00:26:18.767
  • Gunfire. and then we went on the truck.
  • 00:26:18.767 --> 00:26:21.536
  • We can hear everything on the radio.
  • 00:26:21.536 --> 00:26:23.805
  • The air force are telling us, be careful.
  • 00:26:23.805 --> 00:26:26.574
  • There is rpg aimed on you.
  • 00:26:26.574 --> 00:26:29.210
  • Be ready for a hit.
  • 00:26:29.210 --> 00:26:31.346
  • And after a second, they say, okay,
  • 00:26:31.346 --> 00:26:33.214
  • We eliminated the threat.
  • 00:26:33.214 --> 00:26:34.649
  • But eventually, one of the bullets hit the truck,
  • 00:26:34.649 --> 00:26:38.386
  • And we got stuck again after maybe half a mile.
  • 00:26:38.386 --> 00:26:42.657
  • So 15 minutes of stuck in the middle of gaza.
  • 00:26:43.591 --> 00:26:47.896
  • No one is getting out.
  • 00:26:47.896 --> 00:26:49.330
  • Only the air force is covering us.
  • 00:26:49.330 --> 00:26:52.367
  • Probably the longest 15 minutes of your life. -yes.
  • 00:26:52.367 --> 00:26:56.004
  • Suddenly, from out of nowhere, we see 15 tanks
  • 00:26:56.004 --> 00:26:59.441
  • And armored vehicles surrounding us.
  • 00:26:59.441 --> 00:27:01.710
  • Every time i remember, it's goosebumps.
  • 00:27:01.710 --> 00:27:05.080
  • This is the power that i know of the idf,
  • 00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:08.149
  • Not like 7th of october morning.
  • 00:27:08.149 --> 00:27:10.885
  • Then you knew you were safe. -not yet.
  • 00:27:10.885 --> 00:27:13.988
  • Again, in the middle of gaza,
  • 00:27:13.988 --> 00:27:15.490
  • You need to move to another vehicle
  • 00:27:15.490 --> 00:27:17.826
  • During fire on you.
  • 00:27:17.826 --> 00:27:19.427
  • I understood that it's going to be a longer drive
  • 00:27:19.427 --> 00:27:21.696
  • Because it's a different vehicle.
  • 00:27:21.696 --> 00:27:23.331
  • It's slower.
  • 00:27:23.331 --> 00:27:24.265
  • Okay.
  • 00:27:24.499 --> 00:27:25.767
  • We are driving.
  • 00:27:25.767 --> 00:27:26.668
  • Suddenly, we stopped again.
  • 00:27:26.668 --> 00:27:28.536
  • We're asking what happened.
  • 00:27:28.536 --> 00:27:30.605
  • We almost flipped over.
  • 00:27:30.605 --> 00:27:32.006
  • So you had to switch vehicles again.
  • 00:27:32.006 --> 00:27:33.374
  • Again. until we came into the area of the choppers,
  • 00:27:33.374 --> 00:27:36.745
  • The landing area.
  • 00:27:36.745 --> 00:27:38.646
  • Still inside gaza?
  • 00:27:38.646 --> 00:27:39.814
  • It's inside gaza, but it's the area
  • 00:27:39.814 --> 00:27:42.217
  • That is controlled by israel already, yeah.
  • 00:27:42.217 --> 00:27:46.788
  • What kind of condition were you in physically?
  • 00:27:47.689 --> 00:27:50.525
  • Very weak, very white, no vitamins.
  • 00:27:50.525 --> 00:27:53.461
  • You hadn't seen the sun. -no sun.
  • 00:27:53.461 --> 00:27:55.697
  • Eight months, 446 days. -yes, like i lost
  • 00:27:55.697 --> 00:27:59.167
  • Half of my muscles weight.
  • 00:27:59.167 --> 00:28:06.407
  • Describe the feeling when you entered israel.
  • 00:28:07.308 --> 00:28:09.878
  • You knew you were home.
  • 00:28:09.878 --> 00:28:11.913
  • I felt secure and at least the second that i saw
  • 00:28:11.913 --> 00:28:14.916
  • The chopper landing and i'm going on it,
  • 00:28:14.916 --> 00:28:17.385
  • And that's it. i felt free, like it was very important
  • 00:28:17.385 --> 00:28:20.355
  • For me to see what's going on in the country
  • 00:28:20.355 --> 00:28:23.591
  • Because you hear from hamas iran is attacking,
  • 00:28:23.591 --> 00:28:27.262
  • The houthis are attacking. everyone is attacking.
  • 00:28:27.262 --> 00:28:30.165
  • So i thought that israel will be
  • 00:28:30.165 --> 00:28:33.802
  • With a lot of ruins of buildings and things,
  • 00:28:33.802 --> 00:28:37.038
  • But it was amazing to see that everything was working.
  • 00:28:37.038 --> 00:28:41.910
  • In hebrew we say "alive and kicking."
  • 00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:46.614
  • And then landing in the hospital,
  • 00:28:47.282 --> 00:28:49.117
  • And then the first call to my wife.
  • 00:28:49.117 --> 00:28:55.490
  • Man, i can't imagine how emotional that was.
  • 00:28:56.391 --> 00:28:59.494
  • Very emotional because i understood
  • 00:28:59.494 --> 00:29:01.596
  • Who came back alive.
  • 00:29:01.596 --> 00:29:03.765
  • We came that evening to the nova festival, four people.
  • 00:29:03.765 --> 00:29:08.303
  • Me, aviv eliyahu, my wife's cousin
  • 00:29:08.303 --> 00:29:10.839
  • That was the head of security,
  • 00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:13.341
  • Another good friend, jake merlot, that made aliyah,
  • 00:29:13.341 --> 00:29:16.277
  • It was our adopted brother that we adopted to our family,
  • 00:29:16.277 --> 00:29:21.316
  • And yanay eliyahu that was the young brother of aviv
  • 00:29:21.316 --> 00:29:24.452
  • That came to celebrate his birthday that night.
  • 00:29:24.452 --> 00:29:27.288
  • And suddenly i see yanay, that he was alive.
  • 00:29:27.288 --> 00:29:30.391
  • And then i ask about his brother.
  • 00:29:30.391 --> 00:29:32.594
  • So i understood that he is dead,
  • 00:29:32.594 --> 00:29:35.230
  • That he got killed in the battle.
  • 00:29:35.230 --> 00:29:37.599
  • Jake also got murdered trying to escape these monsters.
  • 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:43.271
  • Tell us about your transition back into normal life,
  • 00:29:43.271 --> 00:29:46.608
  • Back into normal israeli society after eight months of...
  • 00:29:46.608 --> 00:29:49.410
  • It's not normal.
  • 00:29:49.410 --> 00:30:00.221
  • What these men lived through in gaza
  • 00:30:01.022 --> 00:30:03.758
  • Didn't end the day they came home.
  • 00:30:03.758 --> 00:30:06.294
  • Like so many hostages, like so many soldiers,
  • 00:30:06.294 --> 00:30:10.064
  • They carry scars you can't always see.
  • 00:30:10.064 --> 00:30:13.468
  • The trauma is real.
  • 00:30:13.468 --> 00:30:15.637
  • Post-traumatic stress, sleepless nights,
  • 00:30:15.637 --> 00:30:19.307
  • Flashbacks that don't let go.
  • 00:30:19.307 --> 00:30:22.043
  • And this isn't only their story.
  • 00:30:22.043 --> 00:30:24.412
  • It's the story of a nation.
  • 00:30:24.412 --> 00:30:26.781
  • And yet, through it all, israel stands resilient,
  • 00:30:27.715 --> 00:30:32.320
  • Steadfast, unshakable,
  • 00:30:32.320 --> 00:30:35.089
  • Committed not just to surviving, but to living
  • 00:30:35.089 --> 00:30:39.060
  • And to protecting its future.
  • 00:30:39.060 --> 00:30:41.529
  • When we come back, we'll meet a mother
  • 00:30:42.363 --> 00:30:44.966
  • Who embodies that spirit, a woman who,
  • 00:30:44.966 --> 00:30:47.969
  • Despite losing her beloved son in captivity,
  • 00:30:47.969 --> 00:30:51.606
  • Refused to give up hope
  • 00:30:51.606 --> 00:30:53.741
  • And has become a voice of strength for the entire nation.
  • 00:30:53.741 --> 00:31:04.005
  • And has become a voice of strength for the entire nation.
  • 00:31:04.005 --> 00:31:10.764
  • There is nothing stronger, nothing fiercer,
  • 00:31:11.632 --> 00:31:14.902
  • Than a mother's love.
  • 00:31:14.902 --> 00:31:16.603
  • But in this war, israeli mothers
  • 00:31:16.603 --> 00:31:18.706
  • Have carried burdens no parent should ever bear.
  • 00:31:18.706 --> 00:31:22.843
  • They've watched their children, sons and daughters,
  • 00:31:22.843 --> 00:31:25.846
  • Barely out of school, head into battle,
  • 00:31:25.846 --> 00:31:28.649
  • Not knowing if they would return.
  • 00:31:28.649 --> 00:31:31.218
  • They agonize over each moment they're apart,
  • 00:31:31.218 --> 00:31:34.154
  • Every news update, every unanswered call.
  • 00:31:34.154 --> 00:31:37.691
  • And yet, with unshakable strength,
  • 00:31:37.691 --> 00:31:40.794
  • They send them out again,
  • 00:31:40.794 --> 00:31:42.763
  • For their families and for their country.
  • 00:31:42.763 --> 00:31:46.033
  • Then there are the mothers who never had a choice,
  • 00:31:46.033 --> 00:31:49.503
  • The mothers whose children were ripped from them on october 7th,
  • 00:31:49.503 --> 00:31:54.008
  • Dragged into gaza's tunnels.
  • 00:31:54.008 --> 00:31:56.243
  • The anguish is unbearable, the endless waiting,
  • 00:31:56.243 --> 00:31:59.713
  • The sleepless nights, the images of their children
  • 00:31:59.713 --> 00:32:03.350
  • Broadcast in cruel videos by hamas.
  • 00:32:03.350 --> 00:32:07.287
  • Many of those captives were young festival goers
  • 00:32:07.287 --> 00:32:10.758
  • From the nova music festival,
  • 00:32:10.758 --> 00:32:13.160
  • Children of mothers who raised them to celebrate life,
  • 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:17.364
  • Only to see them stolen in a moment of terror.
  • 00:32:17.364 --> 00:32:20.968
  • And yet, out of the pain, their voices have risen.
  • 00:32:20.968 --> 00:32:25.205
  • They have not let this nation forget,
  • 00:32:25.205 --> 00:32:27.608
  • They have given israel strength.
  • 00:32:27.608 --> 00:32:30.577
  • One of those voices is rachel goldberg,
  • 00:32:30.577 --> 00:32:33.113
  • The mother of hersh goldberg-polin.
  • 00:32:33.113 --> 00:32:36.183
  • Hersh was taken from the nova festival,
  • 00:32:36.183 --> 00:32:38.886
  • Gravely wounded, his arm blown off by a grenade.
  • 00:32:38.886 --> 00:32:42.823
  • For months, rachel's voice carried across israel
  • 00:32:42.823 --> 00:32:46.326
  • And around the world.
  • 00:32:46.326 --> 00:32:48.062
  • She spoke at the united nations,
  • 00:32:48.062 --> 00:32:50.364
  • At the white house, on international stages,
  • 00:32:50.364 --> 00:32:53.634
  • Reminding leaders that every hostage is a child,
  • 00:32:53.634 --> 00:32:57.805
  • Someone's son, someone's daughter.
  • 00:32:57.805 --> 00:33:00.574
  • After months of hope, hersh was murdered in captivity,
  • 00:33:01.642 --> 00:33:05.179
  • And despite the unimaginable loss,
  • 00:33:05.179 --> 00:33:07.881
  • Rachel continued to stand for all the hostage families,
  • 00:33:07.881 --> 00:33:11.718
  • Carrying not only her own grief, but theirs.
  • 00:33:11.718 --> 00:33:16.356
  • And then there is iris haim.
  • 00:33:16.957 --> 00:33:19.827
  • Her son, yotam, was kidnapped into gaza on october 7th.
  • 00:33:19.827 --> 00:33:24.765
  • For weeks, she lived with the torment
  • 00:33:24.765 --> 00:33:27.601
  • Of not knowing, praying for his return.
  • 00:33:27.601 --> 00:33:30.904
  • Then the unthinkable happened.
  • 00:33:31.605 --> 00:33:34.174
  • During the chaos of battle, yotam and two other hostages
  • 00:33:34.174 --> 00:33:38.112
  • Managed to escape captivity,
  • 00:33:38.112 --> 00:33:40.414
  • But in the confusion, they were tragically mistaken
  • 00:33:40.414 --> 00:33:43.517
  • For terrorists and shot by israeli soldiers.
  • 00:33:43.517 --> 00:33:47.087
  • Iris could have chosen anger.
  • 00:33:47.721 --> 00:33:50.424
  • She could have let bitterness consume her.
  • 00:33:50.424 --> 00:33:53.794
  • But instead, she did the opposite.
  • 00:33:53.794 --> 00:33:56.730
  • She has spoken as a mother to all mothers,
  • 00:33:56.730 --> 00:34:00.567
  • Worrying for every parent whose son or daughter
  • 00:34:00.567 --> 00:34:04.071
  • Is fighting, carrying their pain
  • 00:34:04.071 --> 00:34:06.840
  • As if it were her own.
  • 00:34:06.840 --> 00:34:09.009
  • Her message is one of unity and compassion,
  • 00:34:09.009 --> 00:34:12.312
  • Proving that even in unimaginable grief,
  • 00:34:12.312 --> 00:34:15.616
  • Love can be stronger than hate.
  • 00:34:15.616 --> 00:34:18.418
  • Today, i have the honor to meet iris,
  • 00:34:18.418 --> 00:34:20.754
  • A mother whose love and courage
  • 00:34:20.754 --> 00:34:23.023
  • Have carried this entire nation.
  • 00:34:23.023 --> 00:34:26.260
  • Iris, thank you so much for joining us.
  • 00:34:27.060 --> 00:34:29.396
  • We can't wait to hear your story, yotam's story,
  • 00:34:29.396 --> 00:34:32.466
  • Your wonderful son.
  • 00:34:32.466 --> 00:34:33.967
  • Take us to the morning of october 7th,
  • 00:34:33.967 --> 00:34:36.970
  • Where you were and when you knew
  • 00:34:36.970 --> 00:34:38.839
  • Something was seriously wrong.
  • 00:34:38.839 --> 00:34:40.707
  • On the 7th of october,
  • 00:34:41.208 --> 00:34:43.810
  • I lived in a kibbutz called or haner,
  • 00:34:43.810 --> 00:34:46.446
  • Three kilometers from the border.
  • 00:34:46.446 --> 00:34:51.185
  • I woke up, 6:29 a.m. a heavy, heavy missile attack,
  • 00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:56.790
  • Trying to understand where to be in the shelter
  • 00:34:56.790 --> 00:35:00.093
  • Because everything is open, to close the door,
  • 00:35:00.093 --> 00:35:02.563
  • To close the window,
  • 00:35:02.563 --> 00:35:04.031
  • And then to contact my son, yotam,
  • 00:35:04.031 --> 00:35:07.634
  • Which was living in kfar aza, very, very close to the border,
  • 00:35:07.634 --> 00:35:11.738
  • Try to understand what about him.
  • 00:35:11.738 --> 00:35:14.775
  • But the message from him came first.
  • 00:35:14.775 --> 00:35:17.644
  • My son, yotam, was a drummer,
  • 00:35:17.644 --> 00:35:19.313
  • And we were supposed to go to see yotam
  • 00:35:19.313 --> 00:35:24.518
  • In a show in tel aviv
  • 00:35:25.018 --> 00:35:27.221
  • That was supposed to be at 2 p.m. o'clock.
  • 00:35:27.221 --> 00:35:30.657
  • Yotam sent us a message, a whatsapp message,
  • 00:35:30.657 --> 00:35:35.062
  • From kfar aza that everything is, like, exploding.
  • 00:35:35.062 --> 00:35:40.033
  • But he was very angry because he said,
  • 00:35:40.033 --> 00:35:42.836
  • Why they are doing it today?
  • 00:35:42.836 --> 00:35:46.773
  • Because every day is okay,
  • 00:35:46.773 --> 00:35:48.208
  • But today i have a show to go to,
  • 00:35:48.208 --> 00:35:50.944
  • So why today?
  • 00:35:50.944 --> 00:35:54.014
  • Tell us more about yotam.
  • 00:35:54.581 --> 00:35:57.050
  • I have three children, tuval, yotam, and noya.
  • 00:35:57.050 --> 00:36:01.688
  • Yotam, he was very special
  • 00:36:01.688 --> 00:36:04.291
  • Because he was born with a problem.
  • 00:36:04.291 --> 00:36:06.827
  • He had a genetic disease called hirschsprung,
  • 00:36:06.827 --> 00:36:10.764
  • And it was from the first day he was born
  • 00:36:10.764 --> 00:36:13.600
  • That he was struggling in his life.
  • 00:36:13.600 --> 00:36:16.637
  • He suffered from a lot of pain
  • 00:36:16.637 --> 00:36:19.273
  • When he was a baby, and during all his life
  • 00:36:19.273 --> 00:36:22.142
  • He suffered from all kind of issues
  • 00:36:22.142 --> 00:36:24.144
  • Like depression and anorexia.
  • 00:36:24.144 --> 00:36:27.047
  • He wanted to be a soldier, but he couldn't.
  • 00:36:27.047 --> 00:36:29.716
  • He was a musician.
  • 00:36:29.716 --> 00:36:31.285
  • He was a part of a heavy metal band.
  • 00:36:31.285 --> 00:36:33.987
  • He was very special because he was very, very sensitive.
  • 00:36:33.987 --> 00:36:37.391
  • He tried to help a lot of people,
  • 00:36:37.391 --> 00:36:39.426
  • And he saw other people's pain.
  • 00:36:39.426 --> 00:36:43.730
  • He was a very special guy, and you're getting text messages
  • 00:36:43.730 --> 00:36:47.868
  • From him on the morning of october 7th.
  • 00:36:47.868 --> 00:36:50.137
  • When do you get the sense that, okay,
  • 00:36:50.137 --> 00:36:51.672
  • It's not just rockets, which is bad enough,
  • 00:36:51.672 --> 00:36:54.441
  • But we've got hamas terrorists on the ground
  • 00:36:54.441 --> 00:36:57.311
  • Infiltrating israeli communities,
  • 00:36:57.311 --> 00:36:59.179
  • Including kfar aza?
  • 00:36:59.179 --> 00:37:01.882
  • Between 10:00 and 10:44 a.m.,
  • 00:37:02.516 --> 00:37:05.185
  • We understood that there are terrorists.
  • 00:37:05.185 --> 00:37:06.953
  • They are kidnapping, they are killing,
  • 00:37:06.953 --> 00:37:09.289
  • They are murdering people.
  • 00:37:09.289 --> 00:37:11.325
  • They are firing the house of yotam.
  • 00:37:11.325 --> 00:37:25.939
  • He continued texting us, even in that moment
  • 00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:31.745
  • That he's under a life threat,
  • 00:37:31.745 --> 00:37:35.682
  • That "they are here, mom.
  • 00:37:35.682 --> 00:37:38.185
  • "it's maybe my last minutes.
  • 00:37:38.185 --> 00:37:41.021
  • "i don't think i will survive that.
  • 00:37:41.021 --> 00:37:43.657
  • "if i will not survive, just know that i love you."
  • 00:37:43.657 --> 00:37:46.593
  • And then he disappeared.
  • 00:37:47.094 --> 00:37:49.629
  • We were, of course, we couldn't understand,
  • 00:37:49.629 --> 00:37:52.866
  • And we didn't know what to do.
  • 00:37:52.866 --> 00:37:55.135
  • We didn't have nobody to contact.
  • 00:37:55.135 --> 00:37:58.505
  • And, wow, it was very, very hard, of course.
  • 00:37:59.439 --> 00:38:04.311
  • A helpless feeling. -helpless, exactly.
  • 00:38:04.311 --> 00:38:06.580
  • Do we know the circumstances around hamas kidnapping him,
  • 00:38:06.580 --> 00:38:11.318
  • How that went down, they drag him into gaza?
  • 00:38:11.318 --> 00:38:14.354
  • Do we have any further details about how that happened?
  • 00:38:14.354 --> 00:38:17.324
  • We knew after three and a half weeks
  • 00:38:17.324 --> 00:38:19.459
  • That yotam is alive, that he's there,
  • 00:38:19.459 --> 00:38:23.163
  • But we didn't know anything else.
  • 00:38:23.163 --> 00:38:26.066
  • After five weeks, we got a video
  • 00:38:26.767 --> 00:38:29.269
  • From a security camera just behind the fence of the kibbutz.
  • 00:38:29.269 --> 00:38:33.907
  • 10:55 a.m., yotam, he had a red head.
  • 00:38:33.907 --> 00:38:37.411
  • He was a "jinji" (ginger).
  • 00:38:37.411 --> 00:38:38.545
  • He had a beautiful red head.
  • 00:38:38.545 --> 00:38:40.547
  • In this film, you can see yotam is walking
  • 00:38:40.547 --> 00:38:43.417
  • With his head up and strong.
  • 00:38:43.417 --> 00:38:46.987
  • They took him, but they didn't harm him.
  • 00:38:46.987 --> 00:38:49.322
  • They didn't injure him.
  • 00:38:49.322 --> 00:38:54.561
  • Talk about when yotam is gone,
  • 00:38:55.262 --> 00:38:58.231
  • The uncertainty that you and your family experienced,
  • 00:38:58.231 --> 00:39:00.867
  • And just how horrible that was,
  • 00:39:00.867 --> 00:39:02.269
  • As a mom, as a mother especially.
  • 00:39:02.269 --> 00:39:04.771
  • Because i knew yotam, i knew that yotam,
  • 00:39:04.771 --> 00:39:07.808
  • For all his life, 28 years,
  • 00:39:07.808 --> 00:39:10.977
  • Like i told you, he struggled with a lot of issues.
  • 00:39:10.977 --> 00:39:13.747
  • So i believed that in this place,
  • 00:39:13.747 --> 00:39:17.150
  • Yotam will find a way to survive,
  • 00:39:17.150 --> 00:39:21.087
  • And he will be the power of other people.
  • 00:39:21.087 --> 00:39:24.458
  • I was really in a very, very deep belief
  • 00:39:24.458 --> 00:39:28.128
  • That he's okay.
  • 00:39:28.128 --> 00:39:29.429
  • I'm also a therapist.
  • 00:39:29.429 --> 00:39:31.364
  • I did a lot of meditations.
  • 00:39:31.364 --> 00:39:33.600
  • I imagined yotam
  • 00:39:33.600 --> 00:39:36.336
  • In a good place.
  • 00:39:36.703 --> 00:39:38.605
  • I didn't hear television. i didn't hear people talking.
  • 00:39:38.605 --> 00:39:41.942
  • I didn't go insane.
  • 00:39:41.942 --> 00:39:44.911
  • December 2023, a little over 2 months in captivity
  • 00:39:44.911 --> 00:39:48.615
  • For yotam in gaza,
  • 00:39:48.615 --> 00:39:50.817
  • He and, i believe there's 2 other hostages
  • 00:39:50.817 --> 00:39:54.287
  • Were able to escape. -yes.
  • 00:39:54.287 --> 00:39:57.357
  • Do we have any idea how he managed to escape?
  • 00:39:57.357 --> 00:40:00.961
  • And number 2, how the mistaken identity happened
  • 00:40:00.961 --> 00:40:05.265
  • With the idf?
  • 00:40:05.265 --> 00:40:06.533
  • Our intelligence saw that there is explosive
  • 00:40:06.533 --> 00:40:11.404
  • In a building, and they said to the army,
  • 00:40:11.404 --> 00:40:14.808
  • Golan units, "go there and clear the place."
  • 00:40:14.808 --> 00:40:19.079
  • So the army sent a dog,
  • 00:40:19.579 --> 00:40:22.449
  • Something that they're doing usually.
  • 00:40:22.449 --> 00:40:24.751
  • They sent a dog inside the building,
  • 00:40:24.751 --> 00:40:27.087
  • And the dog was shot by the hamas.
  • 00:40:27.087 --> 00:40:30.557
  • So there was a battle between hamas and our units,
  • 00:40:30.557 --> 00:40:34.995
  • And they killed them,
  • 00:40:34.995 --> 00:40:36.930
  • But they didn't check the house.
  • 00:40:36.930 --> 00:40:38.965
  • And in the house, there were these 3 hostages,
  • 00:40:38.965 --> 00:40:42.302
  • Yotam, alon, and samer,
  • 00:40:42.302 --> 00:40:45.038
  • That shout: "help, this is alon,
  • 00:40:45.038 --> 00:40:48.542
  • "help, this is yotam."
  • 00:40:48.542 --> 00:41:05.091
  • The dog had a camera on himself,
  • 00:41:05.825 --> 00:41:09.162
  • And the camera recorded these voices,
  • 00:41:09.162 --> 00:41:12.699
  • But the army didn't take the camera out in time,
  • 00:41:12.699 --> 00:41:17.804
  • And it was too late
  • 00:41:18.271 --> 00:41:19.873
  • When it was taken out from the dog.
  • 00:41:19.873 --> 00:41:23.009
  • We didn't know all the details
  • 00:41:23.009 --> 00:41:24.778
  • About how it happened. now we know, of course,
  • 00:41:24.778 --> 00:41:27.480
  • That yotam, alon, and samer,
  • 00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:29.316
  • They were 5 days free,
  • 00:41:29.316 --> 00:41:33.887
  • Walking from house to house in shuja'iyya,
  • 00:41:34.754 --> 00:41:38.258
  • Which is a terrible place,
  • 00:41:38.258 --> 00:41:40.527
  • And they found food,
  • 00:41:40.527 --> 00:41:42.829
  • And the last day, 15th of december,
  • 00:41:42.829 --> 00:41:45.298
  • They arrived in front of the army,
  • 00:41:45.298 --> 00:41:49.269
  • And in that moment, our soldiers identified them
  • 00:41:49.269 --> 00:41:53.173
  • As a threat, and they shot them.
  • 00:41:53.173 --> 00:41:58.044
  • Alon and samer were killed immediately.
  • 00:41:58.845 --> 00:42:02.182
  • Yotam was injured, and he escaped from them,
  • 00:42:02.182 --> 00:42:06.786
  • And he hid in a place under a building,
  • 00:42:06.786 --> 00:42:10.757
  • And they heard him shouting:
  • 00:42:10.757 --> 00:42:12.826
  • "you are killing me, help," and they understood
  • 00:42:12.826 --> 00:42:15.762
  • There may be a problem here, that maybe it's not a terrorist,
  • 00:42:15.762 --> 00:42:20.066
  • So they hold the fire.
  • 00:42:20.066 --> 00:42:21.668
  • The officer said: "hold the fire, stop the fire."
  • 00:42:21.668 --> 00:42:25.505
  • He called yotam to come out,
  • 00:42:25.505 --> 00:42:28.141
  • But two soldiers didn't hear
  • 00:42:28.141 --> 00:42:31.878
  • The "stop the fire," and they fired.
  • 00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:36.616
  • Yotam was tragically killed.
  • 00:42:37.217 --> 00:42:39.653
  • You get this news,
  • 00:42:39.653 --> 00:42:41.688
  • The worst news you can get as a mother, of course,
  • 00:42:41.688 --> 00:42:44.257
  • What you did after that, iris,
  • 00:42:44.257 --> 00:42:45.625
  • You actually met with the idf soldiers
  • 00:42:45.625 --> 00:42:48.762
  • Who mistakenly shot yotam.
  • 00:42:49.329 --> 00:42:51.831
  • Tell us why you did that. tell us more about that.
  • 00:42:51.831 --> 00:42:54.501
  • We heard about yotam,
  • 00:42:55.001 --> 00:42:57.203
  • That he was killed by idf on the 15th of december.
  • 00:42:57.203 --> 00:43:01.307
  • It was the last day of hanukkah.
  • 00:43:01.307 --> 00:43:03.977
  • Every person here in israel and in the world
  • 00:43:03.977 --> 00:43:07.213
  • Collapsed because it was a shock.
  • 00:43:07.213 --> 00:43:09.783
  • We couldn't get it that three hostages
  • 00:43:09.783 --> 00:43:14.320
  • Were killed by idf.
  • 00:43:14.320 --> 00:43:20.994
  • And then as a mother, not just mother of yotam,
  • 00:43:21.995 --> 00:43:26.433
  • I feel like i'm a mother in israel of all the soldiers
  • 00:43:26.433 --> 00:43:30.570
  • Because we are one, and this war is showing us
  • 00:43:30.570 --> 00:43:34.174
  • That we are all one here.
  • 00:43:34.174 --> 00:43:36.710
  • So i thought about if these soldiers
  • 00:43:36.710 --> 00:43:40.180
  • Will not continue fighting, how can we survive here?
  • 00:43:40.180 --> 00:43:45.185
  • And then we will not be here.
  • 00:43:45.185 --> 00:43:47.387
  • So i decided to talk to them
  • 00:43:47.387 --> 00:43:49.355
  • And to calm them, to say that we are not angry,
  • 00:43:49.355 --> 00:43:53.893
  • And we don't judge them,
  • 00:43:53.893 --> 00:43:55.628
  • And we want them to know that everything
  • 00:43:55.628 --> 00:43:57.997
  • Is because of the hamas, not because of them.
  • 00:43:57.997 --> 00:44:00.500
  • You forgave them very publicly,
  • 00:44:00.500 --> 00:44:02.235
  • And the whole nation saw that.
  • 00:44:02.235 --> 00:44:03.770
  • The things happen in life, and we cannot control them.
  • 00:44:03.770 --> 00:44:07.240
  • And for me, the way to live with that fact, that yotam, my son,
  • 00:44:07.240 --> 00:44:13.146
  • Was killed, and he was so close to be alive,
  • 00:44:13.146 --> 00:44:16.449
  • That is a big disappointment, very, very big.
  • 00:44:16.449 --> 00:44:19.853
  • But it's happened already, so i cannot go back
  • 00:44:19.853 --> 00:44:23.456
  • And say every day: "why it happened to me?
  • 00:44:23.456 --> 00:44:25.725
  • "why it happened to me?"
  • 00:44:25.725 --> 00:44:27.761
  • You know, in hebrew, the word why is "lama".
  • 00:44:28.661 --> 00:44:33.767
  • "lama" is, you know, lama is an animal.
  • 00:44:33.767 --> 00:44:38.037
  • So i said "lama" is an animal
  • 00:44:38.037 --> 00:44:40.173
  • That lives in the andik mountains,
  • 00:44:40.173 --> 00:44:42.776
  • And there she will stay.
  • 00:44:42.776 --> 00:44:46.146
  • I'm not asking "lama", why, because it will take me back,
  • 00:44:46.146 --> 00:44:50.850
  • And i cannot change the past.
  • 00:44:50.850 --> 00:44:52.685
  • So i'm trying to understand
  • 00:44:52.685 --> 00:44:55.288
  • What i need to do from that point
  • 00:44:55.288 --> 00:44:57.924
  • To bring more light to the world.
  • 00:44:57.924 --> 00:45:01.194
  • One of the things that yotam used to say,
  • 00:45:01.194 --> 00:45:03.830
  • That people are not good enough to each other.
  • 00:45:03.830 --> 00:45:08.301
  • They are not looking in the eyes of each other,
  • 00:45:08.301 --> 00:45:11.371
  • And that's what he wanted to change,
  • 00:45:11.371 --> 00:45:13.173
  • That people will not be so judgmental
  • 00:45:13.173 --> 00:45:16.476
  • To each other. and so i think that i'm doing good things
  • 00:45:16.476 --> 00:45:21.214
  • From what happened, and a lot of people
  • 00:45:21.214 --> 00:45:23.750
  • Are getting inspiration.
  • 00:45:23.750 --> 00:45:25.618
  • You've said that yotam died the way he lived,
  • 00:45:25.618 --> 00:45:29.255
  • Free, a warrior. tell us more about that.
  • 00:45:29.255 --> 00:45:32.659
  • A day after we heard the terrible, terrible,
  • 00:45:32.659 --> 00:45:38.064
  • Terrible thing that yotam was killed,
  • 00:45:38.064 --> 00:45:41.234
  • One of our therapists, she did like a session
  • 00:45:41.234 --> 00:45:44.003
  • In the room, in a clinic, and she put four chairs,
  • 00:45:44.003 --> 00:45:46.940
  • And one of the chairs was the freedom day,
  • 00:45:46.940 --> 00:45:49.509
  • The day of liberation, she called it.
  • 00:45:49.509 --> 00:45:51.978
  • And she asked from us to sit on the chair
  • 00:45:51.978 --> 00:45:54.781
  • And to speak as we are yotam.
  • 00:45:54.781 --> 00:45:57.550
  • And i sat on this chair like i'm yotam,
  • 00:45:57.550 --> 00:46:01.154
  • And i said: "mommy, daddy, i was able to free myself,
  • 00:46:01.154 --> 00:46:05.491
  • "i was able to run away,
  • 00:46:05.491 --> 00:46:07.827
  • "and i tried to save myself."
  • 00:46:07.827 --> 00:46:10.563
  • Five days, tough and resourceful
  • 00:46:10.563 --> 00:46:12.699
  • To stay alive for five days in the middle of gaza.
  • 00:46:12.699 --> 00:46:15.268
  • Yes, it's amazing.
  • 00:46:15.268 --> 00:46:17.303
  • Soldiers are talking to me and saying:
  • 00:46:17.303 --> 00:46:20.240
  • "we couldn't do it with our helmets and weapons
  • 00:46:20.240 --> 00:46:23.209
  • And things, we don't know how they did it."
  • 00:46:23.209 --> 00:46:25.712
  • So they were really, really, really brave.
  • 00:46:25.712 --> 00:46:28.615
  • And when i sat there on the chair,
  • 00:46:28.615 --> 00:46:31.718
  • I figured out that yotam was one of the partisans.
  • 00:46:31.718 --> 00:46:35.588
  • If... you know the partisans in the holocaust
  • 00:46:36.489 --> 00:46:39.759
  • Decided that they will do something, they will act.
  • 00:46:39.759 --> 00:46:44.597
  • And i understood that yotam,
  • 00:46:44.597 --> 00:46:46.766
  • He was very active.
  • 00:46:46.766 --> 00:46:48.534
  • So when you are active, you are not a victim.
  • 00:46:48.534 --> 00:46:51.304
  • So for me, yotam is a part of the big history
  • 00:46:51.304 --> 00:46:56.442
  • Of the jewish people in the holocaust, before the holocaust.
  • 00:46:56.442 --> 00:47:00.813
  • And when you are a part of something,
  • 00:47:00.813 --> 00:47:03.549
  • You understand it's not just you,
  • 00:47:03.549 --> 00:47:05.919
  • The story of yotam and iris chaim,
  • 00:47:05.919 --> 00:47:08.288
  • It's a story of us, of all of us.
  • 00:47:08.288 --> 00:47:11.524
  • This changed a lot in my way to look at the story,
  • 00:47:11.524 --> 00:47:16.029
  • To tell the story.
  • 00:47:16.029 --> 00:47:18.264
  • Iris, you are filled with love and compassion,
  • 00:47:18.264 --> 00:47:22.435
  • And we cannot thank you enough for sharing your story.
  • 00:47:22.435 --> 00:47:24.337
  • Thank you so much, iris. we truly appreciate it.
  • 00:47:24.337 --> 00:47:26.239
  • God bless you.
  • 00:47:26.239 --> 00:47:28.474
  • Yotam haim wanted more than anything
  • 00:47:29.242 --> 00:47:32.078
  • To be a warrior, a hero, a partisan.
  • 00:47:32.078 --> 00:47:35.949
  • And that's how he left this world,
  • 00:47:35.949 --> 00:47:37.917
  • Fighting for his freedom, defying the enemy.
  • 00:47:37.917 --> 00:47:41.254
  • And in his sacrifice, he gave his mother a voice,
  • 00:47:41.254 --> 00:47:44.824
  • A voice that has brought this nation together with love,
  • 00:47:44.824 --> 00:47:48.628
  • Resilience, and a spirit that cannot be broken.
  • 00:47:48.628 --> 00:47:52.665
  • After speaking with iris, you can't help but be struck
  • 00:47:52.665 --> 00:47:55.969
  • By her almost unshakable positivity.
  • 00:47:55.969 --> 00:47:59.472
  • In the midst of the deepest grief,
  • 00:47:59.472 --> 00:48:01.841
  • She chooses bridges instead of walls.
  • 00:48:01.841 --> 00:48:04.877
  • That is the spirit of israel at its best.
  • 00:48:04.877 --> 00:48:08.815
  • But it also brings us to one of the hardest truths in this war.
  • 00:48:08.815 --> 00:48:13.286
  • Israel has always lived by the motto,
  • 00:48:13.286 --> 00:48:15.722
  • Never leave anyone behind.
  • 00:48:15.722 --> 00:48:18.391
  • It's not just a saying.
  • 00:48:18.391 --> 00:48:20.526
  • It's a promise written into the soul of this country.
  • 00:48:20.526 --> 00:48:24.063
  • We saw it in the fight for gilad shalit
  • 00:48:24.864 --> 00:48:27.867
  • When israel brought him home after five long years
  • 00:48:27.867 --> 00:48:31.304
  • In captivity, a deal that saw over 1,000 palestinian prisoners
  • 00:48:31.304 --> 00:48:36.409
  • Released, including yahya sinwar,
  • 00:48:36.409 --> 00:48:39.379
  • The hamas leader, who would go on to mastermind october 7th.
  • 00:48:39.379 --> 00:48:43.916
  • Among those freed were not just militants
  • 00:48:43.916 --> 00:48:47.387
  • But convicted murderers and terrorists.
  • 00:48:47.387 --> 00:48:50.656
  • Israel paid that price
  • 00:48:50.656 --> 00:48:52.558
  • Because one soldier's life mattered.
  • 00:48:52.558 --> 00:48:56.195
  • That promise has always defined israel,
  • 00:48:56.195 --> 00:48:59.432
  • But it has also made israel a target,
  • 00:48:59.432 --> 00:49:02.435
  • Exploited by forces far larger, darker, and more manipulative.
  • 00:49:02.435 --> 00:49:07.640
  • And that leads us straight into the next episode.
  • 00:49:07.640 --> 00:49:10.710
  • We're going to pull back the curtain on the force
  • 00:49:10.710 --> 00:49:13.713
  • Behind all of this,
  • 00:49:13.713 --> 00:49:15.348
  • The real power, the regime pulling the strings,
  • 00:49:15.348 --> 00:49:19.185
  • Iran.
  • 00:49:19.185 --> 00:49:20.686
  • But here's the twist.
  • 00:49:20.686 --> 00:49:22.355
  • While tehran plays the part of a regional empire,
  • 00:49:22.355 --> 00:49:25.858
  • It's israel, a country the size of new jersey,
  • 00:49:25.858 --> 00:49:29.662
  • That has stood toe-to-toe with it.
  • 00:49:29.662 --> 00:49:32.665
  • Through brilliance, daring, and intelligence operations
  • 00:49:32.665 --> 00:49:36.035
  • So bold they make hollywood look tame,
  • 00:49:36.035 --> 00:49:39.305
  • Israel has struck blows the ayatollahs never saw coming.
  • 00:49:39.305 --> 00:49:44.110
  • That's where we go next.
  • 00:49:44.110 --> 00:49:46.012
  • The hidden war, the mastermind,
  • 00:49:46.012 --> 00:49:48.548
  • And the battle that goes far beyond israel's borders.
  • 00:49:48.548 --> 00:49:48.548