Fallen soldier’s father: My girl has been gone for 2 years but those who should have protected her stay put

Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was killed during the October 7 Hamas onslaught at the Nahal Oz base where she served as a surveillance soldier, says that the shock assault should have been followed by a wave of resignations in the government.

“Instead, we got a theater of shame,” he says at the anti-government protest at Habima Square. “The State of Israel is conducting itself like the most pathetic and degraded circus.”

“As the father of Roni Eshel, a heroic surveillance soldier from the Nahal Oz base who stood her ground and warned of the approaching enemy, and who persisted in her mission until she fell in the defense of the homeland — I’ve been getting up every morning for two years, with the hand that searches for her and shatters in the face of reality,” he says. “Two years that my girl is gone, but everyone who was responsible for protecting her is still there — on the job, in the chair, in front of the cameras, and especially, in the headlines.”

Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he says: “The one who abandoned Roni won’t escape responsibility, won’t hide behind flags. We won’t let him. This person will not rewrite history.”

His speech is interrupted by chants of “Seventh of October — the Netanyahu massacre.”

Speaking later in the protest, former Deputy Chief Justice Elyakim Rubinstein demands that Netanyahu establish a state commission of inquiry.

“The blood of our brothers and sisters cries out to us from the ground,” he says. “Is there a single normal person who thinks there should not be an investigation?”

Noting that Netanyahu last month broke with his justice minister and acknowledged that Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit is, in fact, the High Court president, Rubinstein says, “now he needs to do the right thing and establish a state commission of inquiry.”

The rally ends with families of the October 7 victims leading the crowd in singing the national anthem, “Hatikva.” Organizers say another rally will be held at the same time and place next week.