Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of freed hostage Romi Gonen, says she is “taking a moment to breathe it in and believe in this new reality” after her daughter was released from Hamas captivity yesterday, some 15 months after she was abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023, assault.
In a brief post on Facebook, Leshem Gonen also draws attention to the 97 remaining hostages and their families, who she says “need this reality to become true” for them as well.
(There are actually 94 now remaining in captivity in Gaza, 91 of them abducted on October 7, 2023.)
In a second post, published a few hours later, Leshem Gonen says she is currently existing “in an alternate reality, disconnected from the outside world, in which nothing exists but family.”
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this