Herzog heckled by protesters as he urges ‘entire world’ to help bring hostages home
Crowd chants ‘Now! Now!’ to signify dissatisfaction with authorities; Omer Adam sings song by injured reservist and ‘Fauda’ star Idan Amedi, ends 24-hour rally with national anthem
President Isaac Herzog sought to draw international awareness to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza on Sunday as he addressed a 24-hour rally in Tel Aviv marking 100 days since their kidnapping, but audience members screamed “Now! Now!” and booed his speech, practically drowning him out, in an apparent protest of authorities’ failure to secure the hostages’ release thus far.
The 24 hours of events at what has been dubbed “Hostages Square” in central Tel Aviv wound down Sunday evening, after a day of speeches from international figures, freed hostages, and relatives of the 136 still held in Gaza, while business went on strike nationwide for 100 minutes, and in Europe, Israel supporters flooded streets calling to “Bring them home.”
“One hundred days of isolation. One hundred days in which hostages — babies, children, elderly, women, and men, wounded and sick — are held by despicable Hamas terrorists,” Herzog began. “They are held with diabolical cruelty. In the dark, in tunnels, in terrible suffering.”
“I am speaking from here to the hostages, our brothers and sisters, whoever can hear me — we are not giving up on you. We have not forgotten you. We are all working and will continue to work here in Israel and around the world 24/7 in order to bring you home!” Herzog said.
The crowd chanted and booed so loudly that Herzog requested they pause to allow him to address the rest of the world in his remarks.
Switching to English, Herzog said: “I call upon the entire family of nations to do your part. This isn’t just our battle. It is a battle for the entire world. Stand with life and liberty. Stand with freedom and democracy, against barbarism and hate.”
“Stand with our hostages. And help bring them home!” he said. “There is no later. The time for you to act is now.”
In his speech, Herzog emphasized the importance of bringing hostages back to Israel and praised their relatives for their “heroism and pride” that “give us all strength in the steadfast struggle to reclaim our daughters and sons from the hands of a cruel and inhumane enemy.”
At the conclusion of the rally, Israeli pop singer Omer Adam took to the stage and sang “Warrior’s Pain,” a song by singer and “Fauda” actor Idan Amedi, who is recovering in hospital after he was seriously wounded fighting in Gaza.
כאב של לוחמים: הזמר עומר אדם נעל את עצרת "100 ימים של גיהנום" עם מחווה מרגשת לחברו עידן עמדי שנפצע בקרב בעזה@lirankog pic.twitter.com/mbXGWvngQn
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 14, 2024
Concluding the 24-hour rally, Adam led the singing of “Hatikva” alongside Herzog and the latter’s wife Michal, who performed the national anthem in sign language.
תמה עצרת משפחות החטופים שנמשכה 24 שעות בשירת התקווה מרגשת. תם ולא נשלם.
את-כולם-עכשיו????️????️ pic.twitter.com/gzgERTLmdY— ????????חגית קלימן – Hagit Klaiman???????? (@klaiman14) January 14, 2024
According to Hebrew media, organizers estimated that some 300,000 people in total had attended the events throughout the day.
No cabinet ministers appeared to address the crowd during the events. However, war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot of the National Unity party were present in the crowd on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Yuval Or, whose son Dror Or was taken captive and daughter-in-law Yonat was murdered on October 7, accosted coalition MK Zvi Sukkot of the coalition’s hardline Religious Zionism party as he visited the site of the rally, expressing blame toward the ruling coalition for the failures that allowed the Hamas massacres of October 7 to occur.
“My son is held hostage because of him. He murdered my daughter-in-law,” he yelled at the lawmaker, calling on him to leave.
“He is the murderer. They are murderers. They are murderers,” he added.
אב לחטוף מגרש בצעקות את צבי סוכות מהכניסה לחדר המשפחות בכיכר החטופים. ״הבן שלי חטוף בגללו, הוא רצח את כלתי. שיעוף מפה״ pic.twitter.com/GvAYJset1M
— אורי סלע Uri Sela (@uri_sela) January 14, 2024
War erupted between Israel and Hamas on October 7, when thousands of terrorists burst across the border into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 240 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians.
The family members of the hostages addressing the gathering on Saturday and Sunday warned that time was running out to save their loved ones, and expressed intense frustration with the government, which they argued was not doing enough to save those that it neglected on October 7.
After 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, Israel has not secured the release of further live captives through either military operations or diplomacy.
Four hostages were released prior to the ceasefire, and one was rescued alive by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and the fate of that person is still unknown.
In addition to 132 hostages kidnapped on October 7, Hamas is also believed to have been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
