Friends of observation soldiers taken hostage set up mock surveillance post at Knesset

Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid sits at an installation in the Knesset emulating the displays used by IDF surveillance soldiers tasked with monitoring the Gaza border on November 11, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid sits at an installation in the Knesset emulating the displays used by IDF surveillance soldiers tasked with monitoring the Gaza border on November 11, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Friends of the IDF observation soldiers tasked with monitoring the Gaza border who were kidnapped on October 7 set up a mock surveillance station in the Knesset, complete with screens showing footage of the Hamas attack.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and MK Shelly Tal Meron of his Yesh Atid party sit at the stations, watching the videos, drawing a crowd.

“All of us know the videos and what happened, but to sit down at this station and see it almost like the surveillance soldiers, you understand the weight of the responsibility they had in their hands,” Tal Meron tells The Times of Israel.

“Unfortunately we didn’t listen to them,” she says, noting that her own daughter is due to join the IDF soon and that her daughter’s best friend had already enlisted as an observation soldier.

Lapid agrees, adding, “We have to do something about this aside from having all sorts of exhibitions in the Knesset. The government needs to something about it, which is bringing them back home. This is the most important thing.”

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