Avigail Idan’s meeting with Biden was ‘something special,’ family says
The four-year-old’s aunt and uncle, who have adopted her and her siblings, lament lack of a similar meeting with Israeli leaders
United States President Joe Biden’s meeting with released four-year-old hostage Avigail Idan was “something special,” her aunt Liron and uncle Zuli told Channel 12 news on Friday, days after the White House sit-down.
Liron and Zuli, who have adopted American-Israeli Avigail and her siblings, Michael and Amalya, following their parents’ murder on October 7, said they made the trip to the US to take some “family time in our new makeup” — which, together with their own three kids, now includes six children.
They wanted to “give the children an experience we all really needed,” the couple said.
The couple knew that an invitation from the White House was likely when they made the trip to the US, but at one point thought it would not happen, after Biden had to cut his vacation short earlier this month when Iran launched an attack of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel.
In the end, the invitation came as a surprise while they were visiting family in New York, and were told they would be meeting Biden at the White House the next day.
During Idan’s captivity, Biden mentioned her several times in rallying calls for the release of the hostages held by Hamas. She was freed under a week-long truce in November, along with 104 more hostages of the 253 taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.
“The evening before, [the kids] drew him pictures and wrote him a few words. When we were there, the children gave him the drawings and he let us into his office. He said he would frame the pictures and hang them in there,” Zuli said.
Liron and Zuli said they felt Biden was genuine and warm with them and the children and described how comfortable Avigail became with him.
“At the beginning, she was shy, but then she was joyful Avigail,” Liron said. “She had fun with him. She asked him to swing her [on a swing set] and when he gave his attention to someone else, she shouted ‘Joe, Joe!'”
The couple said that at one point they told Avigail off for running around and Biden told them, “They’re children, it’s okay. Children have different rules here.”
In a press conference on Thursday, Biden also told reporters that Avigail was very comfortable at the meeting.
“Her family sent me a note saying, as she was riding home, she said, ‘You know, I love Joe Biden,’” he said.
“You look the man in the eye, and you see honesty,” Zuli said of the president. “I didn’t feel like I was conversing with the most powerful man in the world.”
Unfortunately, the couple said, they have not been granted a similar meeting with any Israeli leaders, and no official has contacted them on the matter.
Meanwhile, the children’s parents, Smadar and Roee, “are with us all the time,” Liron said, describing how the family had gone to an NBA game because Roee loved the league.
“I promised Michael that we would go to Dunkin’ Donuts because Roee told them about it,” she added.
On Saturday, Biden posted an image of his meeting with Avigail, and promised to “not rest until every hostage, like Abigail, ripped from their families and held by Hamas is back in the arms of their loved ones.”
“They have my word. Their families have my word,” Biden wrote on X.
I will not rest until every hostage, like Abigail, ripped from their families and held by Hamas is back in the arms of their loved ones.
They have my word.
Their families have my word. pic.twitter.com/hRDSjsYDc9
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 27, 2024
The family will be returning to Israel in time for Remembrance Day and Independence Day, which come one after the other. While they won’t be celebrating the latter this year, Liron said the former, which honors fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, will be difficult and emotional for them.
“It’s hard for me to understand that we’ve become part of the day,” she said.
Ultimately, Liron and Zuli said that they wanted to focus on their kids and “create as many good memories for them as possible.”
Avigail was taken captive along with her neighbors while hiding with them on October 7. Michael and Amalya hid in the family’s home and were eventually rescued by security forces.
After more than six months of war, 129 hostages taken on that day remain in Hamas captivity, not all of them alive. Two more Israelis who entered Gaza years ago of their own accord also remain hostage, and Hamas holds the bodies of two soldiers slain in 2014.
