Yarden Bibas’s letter to Netanyahu calling for state inquiry, asking PM to join him at kibbutz

The following is the full text of freed hostage Yarden Bibas’s letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, read from the Knesset podium on March 3, 2025, by National Unity MK Chili Tropper, as the prime minister listened in the plenum.

The Knesset was holding a debate on calls to hold a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel. Netanyahu, during the debate, reiterated his opposition to such an investigation. After reading the letter, Tropper walked over to Netanyahu, spoke in his ear, and placed the letter in front of him.

Mr. Prime Minister,

My name is Yarden Bibas, and as my words are being read to you, I am sitting shiva for my wife, Shiri, and my children, Kfir and Ariel. Innocent, pure children who were taken from their home and murdered in captivity. They could have been saved and should have been saved.

The accursed terrorists stormed Nir Oz in flip-flops. My family and I were violently abducted from our home and dragged to Gaza. That cursed morning, the state was absent from Nir Oz. The only ones there were the local heroes — members of emergency response teams and brave soldiers who did everything in their power, and even paid with their lives.

And now, 514 days later, I have returned from Gaza to an unimaginable reality in which I had to bury my entire family in a single day. No one should ever have to endure such a nightmare.

11 שניות שמראות ניתוק .
חילי טרופר מגיש לו מכתב ממשפחת ביבס .
והאיש בכלל לא רואה וכנראה לא מעניין אותו.
עצוב. וכאזרח.
גם שובר לב.
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— YANIV HALIVA TOLEDANO ???????? (@htyaniv) March 3, 2025

Yet despite my unbearable grief, I ask you at this moment to stop. This is not the time for vengeance.

Right now, our duty is to immediately bring back our brothers and sisters, among them my closest friend, David Cunio, and his brother Ariel. David has been my best friend since first grade, my neighbor in the kibbutz, and he is now languishing in Hamas tunnels.

I know that I will never again be able to hold my children or my wife. But Emma and Yuli, David’s little daughters, who were taken to Gaza at just three years old [and who were returned in November 2023], are waiting to hug their father. His wife, Sharon, deserves to hold him in her arms once again.

Once David and the rest of the hostages are home, I will be the first to support any action to dismantle Hamas. As a resident of Nir Oz, I fully understand that Hamas must be eradicated, otherwise we will never be safe. But we must never lose sight of the sanctity of life, the dignity of the dead, and our fundamental duty to leave no one behind — otherwise we will have lost our very identity.

Mr. Prime Minister, 514 days and nights have passed, and neither you nor your government have taken responsibility. The demand for a state commission of inquiry is not a political issue — it is a national consensus. Eighty-three percent of Israeli citizens are calling for it, alongside 1,500 families from the October 7 tragedy, including mine.

This is not about personal blame, but about learning lessons to prevent the next disaster. Mr. Prime Minister, I urge you: Unite the people of Israel, bring us some peace of mind, heed the call of the nation and the grieving families. Announce immediately the formation of a state commission of inquiry that will strengthen Israel’s security, prevent another catastrophe, and provide answers to me and to all of Israel.

How did it happen that my nine-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel were kidnapped and slaughtered alongside their mother, Shiri, in unspeakable cruelty? How is it possible that after hours of hiding in the safe room, no one came to rescue us?

I cannot stop thinking about how I failed to protect my wife and children. It is eating me alive. I had only a handgun, I was just an ordinary civilian in a peaceful kibbutz. Do you [in Israel’s leadership] ruminate over this? Do you struggle, as I do, to get through the day and the night without feeling a crushing weight of responsibility for what happened? Can you bring yourselves to say it, clearly and out loud?

So many citizens have asked for forgiveness. So few politicians have done so. So many civilians and soldiers have taken responsibility. So few government officials have done so.

At the funeral, my sister Ofri said something that deeply resonated with me: “An apology means taking responsibility and committing to change — to learn from mistakes. There is no meaning to an apology until the failures are investigated and those in positions of power are held accountable. Our national tragedy, and our personal tragedy, should never have happened. And we must ensure that it never, ever happens again.”

I am not here to settle scores over the past. I am trying to summon the strength to look ahead. I ask that we all do everything in our power to build a better, stronger, and more united country.

As I looked out from the funeral procession car, I saw the people of Israel. I saw a nation in mourning — religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox — all standing together, waving flags, with tears in their eyes. I felt their presence, their solidarity. I did not know them, but I knew that they were my brothers and sisters.

What are you, our leaders, doing to protect this unity? Do you wake up each morning seeking to divide us, or to strengthen our bonds? To me, this mission is just as crucial as sending fighter jets to destroy our enemies. That is our strength. That is our spirit.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, I make one final request. I have yet to return to my home in Nir Oz. I do not know what awaits me there. I ask you to come with me — to walk beside me as I step into my home for the first time since October 7. Let us do this together. Because if we do not look this tragedy in the eye, we will never be able to recover.