Tel Aviv restaurateur tries to change hostage message to ‘Let Them Go Now’
Criticizing ‘Bring Them Home Now’ formulation, tech marketing entrepreneur says his slogan shifts accusatory finger from Israeli government and points it at Hamas, where it belongs
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
In the days after the October 7 Hamas attack, three of restaurateur James Oppenheim’s nine children were called up for reserve duty, leaving him understaffed at Bodega Burger, his family-run kosher bacon cheeseburger joint in Tel Aviv.
No one was buying burgers, so they began grilling and giving them away in the thousands, to soldiers, evacuated families, and anyone who needed some comfort food.
It took several weeks for Oppenheim, a tech entrepreneur and restaurateur who has worked in marketing for most of his career, to notice the black, red and white “Bring Them Home Now” messaging hastily put together by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in the first days after the massive terrorist attack. (Full disclosure: Oppenheim was chief revenue officer at The Times of Israel from 2012-2015.)
When he finally did pay attention, it didn’t make sense to him.
“Who are we yelling at?” said Oppenheim. “Why on earth are they fixated only on the Israeli government? You don’t hear a peep about Hamas” — the terrorist organization that took 251 hostages on October 7, has killed some in captivity and continues to hold 101 hostages.
He was frustrated by the messaging of the Hostage Families Forum: The way he saw it, while the message of “Bring Them Home Now” doesn’t entirely blame the Israeli government, it doesn’t play the onus on Hamas either.
Months later, as Passover approached and families were marking six months of the hostages’ captivity, it struck Oppenheim that if the biblical Moses were alive, he would be yelling, ‘Let my people go now!'” he said — directing the message at the Hamas captors rather than the Israeli government.
In a burst of activity, Oppenheim created a new tagline, “Let Them Go Now,” with a graphic of a yellow ribbon inset with a heart against a blue background, and began raising money to spread his message.
He made banners and swag including T-shirt and hats, and raised money for billboards and electronic signs.
He has had some success spreading the idea but was unable to convince the Hostages Forum to adopt his messaging.
A staff member at the Forum told The Times of Israel that they are aware of certain problems with parts of their messaging, but that it was created during an emergency that is still ongoing.
“They say it’s too late to change the narrative,” said Oppenheim, who counters by commenting that that there are still 101 hostages.
He now keeps his distance from the Hostages Forum, as he believes the staff are overly fixated on and critical of the role of the Israeli government in the current situation.
Oppenheim said he is not political and hasn’t voted in an Israeli election in at least five years — nor in the US, where he was born and raised. “I don’t vote. I don’t care about politics. I am about love and about spreading light,” he said.
He sees a lack of alignment between the Hostages Forum and the allies it could have in the US, especially among Christians and members of the LGBTQ+ and Black communities, and is frustrated by the lack of attention he believes the Forum pays to that part of the struggle.
Oppenheim tried to persuade several American Jewish organizations to adopt his messaging, and while he’s had success with some major influencers, including former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, entertainer Montana Tucker and Columbia University professor Shai Davidai, organizations such as UJA Federation opted to stick with Bring Them Home.
He was told by various Jewish groups that they didn’t want to do anything that they felt the hostage families themselves weren’t pushing.
“I think about all missed opportunities at the Democratic National Convention, at the Republican National Convention, at Ishay Ribo’s [Madison Square Garden] concert,” said Oppenheim. “Please, let’s unite with Christians, let’s unite with genuine progressives who believe in humanitarianism.”
He pointed to demonstrations at the United Nations, where pro-Palestinian protesters denounce Israel on one side of the street, while those marching for the hostages chant “Bring them home now” on the other, and asserted that both groups were ultimately letting Hamas off the hook for their terrorist actions.
“I believe in the hostages coming home, and that’s it. I’m not a politician,” said Oppenheim. “My view is that if we don’t put every ounce of humanitarian pressure on the people holding the hostages, then we didn’t do everything we could to get them free.”
