President Herzog on Bibas family: A heart-rending cry, echoing in all corners of the world

By Sam Sokol 26 February 2025, 11:41 am

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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"

President Isaac Herzog at a Memorial Day ceremony in the Old City of Jerusalem, May 12, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog eulogizes slain hostage Shiri Bibas and her two sons Ariel and Kfir in a lengthy post on X ahead of their funeral.

“An entire country and an entire people are in a time of mourning,” and “all of us, an entire people with broken hearts, are accompanying them to eternal rest,” he writes.

“This is not how we prayed for them to return to us,” he says. “In our minds’ eyes we saw them returning, shining with their golden heads, with the lively, playful gaze that shone in their little eyes.

“If there is still mercy in the world, the beautiful faces of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir will be a heart-rending cry, echoing in all corners of the world,” Herzog continues.

“A cry that is heard from one end of the world to the other and awakens the hearts of the people of the world, whose senses have become dull, whose measure of justice has been distorted, whose hearts have been sealed. See, oh world, today we are bringing to burial the sweetest and most righteous of your children. Open your heart, oh world, join in the great cry that an entire broken people are crying out today.”