In viral video, former Israeli hostage confronts anti-Israel activist: ‘I’m asking you to check facts’

A video of a former Israeli hostage confronting an anti-Israel activist on a panel has gone viral for the woman’s comments on coexistence and the need for activists to learn the facts on the conflict.

Moran Stella Yanai, who was held hostage for 54 days in Gaza before being freed in the November 2023 deal, recently took part in a panel on the Gaza conflict alongside Aidan Doyle, who was a leader of the anti-Israel encampment at UCLA. Mosab Hassan Yousef, the pro-Israeli disowned son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was also on the panel.

Noting that she had worked with Arabs and had been friends with Arabs for years, Yanai confronted Doyle on his vociferous criticism of Israel.

“Have you ever been to Israel? Have you visited Gaza before? Probably not,” she said, which Doyle, visibly uncomfortable as she spoke, did not contest. “Did you know that the vast majority of the hostages believe in coexisting?”

Yanai went on: “On October 7, and this is what [the terrorists] told me, they didn’t know about the Nova festival, they didn’t know that we have 3,000 people there. They planned, and they told me that, they planned to move on and kill as much as they could. In Beersheba, in Tel Aviv, in Haifa — they wanted to slaughter everybody.

“When I was entering Gaza and there is a video that I saw, 100% of civilians celebrating me being taken… All I saw was 100% of civilians lynching me, beating me up. I was with a broken leg. I had bruises all over my body. Do you know that I’ve never cursed them? I’ve never argued with them. And I’ve never treated them like garbage. I respected them even when they abused me, because I believe that if I want to be respected, I have to respect everybody else.

“So I’m asking you one thing and one thing only because I see you’re not comfortable. I’m asking you to check facts on both sides.”