Two relatives of Israelis held hostage since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas urged people to speak out, attend rallies, post on social media and write to members of Congress to help “seal the deal.”
Efrat Machikawa, a niece of 80-year-old Gadi Moses, and Leat Corinne Unger, a cousin of Omer Shem-Tov, 21, spoke at Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah in Potomac on July 23, arriving at the synagogue shortly after meeting with members of Congress.
Both women said they believe the Israel Defense Forces cannot bring the remaining hostages home safely. Both the lives of the hostages and the soldiers would be at great risk, they agreed.
That is why they urge the Israeli government to agree to a cease-fire and an exchange involving Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
“Please do not let anyone forget or normalize the situation. This has to come to an end,” Machikawa said.
The women, along with other hostage family members, met in Washington, D.C., during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit and urged legislators to agree to a deal so they could be reunited with their loved ones.
“It’s all about the deal. We feel it’s time to seal it, and we feel our government is not fulfilling their responsibility of bringing them back in the right way,” Machikawa said. She has three children serving in the army, including her younger son who “is in Gaza most of the time.”
She said the senators she met “are very open-minded to us. It’s quite touching.”
Corinne Unger agreed, noting, “There’s not much more to do. We’ve helped put all the right pieces in place.”
The evening they spoke at Beth Sholom Congregation and Talmud Torah, their loved ones had been held for 291 days.
It is time for Israel to agree to a cease-fire, Corinne Unger said. “One hundred twenty families are waiting to hug, caress or be united with their families.”
According to Corrine Unger, 70% of the Israeli public wants a deal so the hostages can come home.
According to the two women, the deal would include three release phases, starting with the release of hostages who are elderly, female or young. Then the men, including those who served in the IDF, would be released.
Lastly, the bodies of the dead hostages would be returned for burial.
The deal would require a cease-fire agreement and the exchange of prisoners held in Israel.
Also, the women noted, if there is a breach of the cease-fire, Israel can continue fighting.
Machikawa said multiple members of her family lived at Kibbutz Nir Oz, which is located as close to Gaza “as probably your supermarket is to where you live.”
One-fourth of the 400 residents of that kibbutz “were either brutally murdered, slaughtered, burned alive or taken hostage,” she said. The terrorists robbed, burned and destroyed while not one Israeli soldier arrived, she said.
Her uncle gathered with his family in a shelter early that morning but left to talk to the intruders, under the mistaken belief that they were there to steal money
and passports.
Hamas militants took five of her family members on Oct. 7. Since then, four have been released. Her uncle remains. “We have no clue where he is,” but after seeing a video, they believe he is being held by the Islamic Jihad.
While she did not recognize her uncle in the video, “I knew his voice.”
Corrinne Unger’s cousin, whose mother calls him “the sunshine child,” spent that night with his family celebrating his mother’s 51st birthday. He left the gathering, telling family members he was headed to a music festival. He promised to return later with sneakers for his mother’s birthday present.
Shem-Tov fled after realizing the festival was under attack. He ran on foot when he couldn’t drive away by car. At some point, he became separated from his friends.
“He went back to an active terror scene to save friends,” his aunt said.
The family saw video of the young man, who they said was thrown into the back of a pickup truck with his hands bound.
Although he has asthma, he has been denied his inhaler as well as the special foods he needs to control his celiac disease, according to his aunt.
“I, myself, feel I am in a moral hell. I am in so much pain,” Corrine Unger said.
Machikawa agreed. “I can hardly remember life before Oct. 7. It seems like 10 years,” she said.
As she awaits her uncle’s return, Machikawa has become the family member everyone turns to, including her elderly parents.
“The ripples of pain and the ripples of struggle are so great, but this is nothing compared to what our loved ones are going through in Gaza, so I don’t care.”
As for Israel’s future, “I believe we all have to be very careful in our strategy. We will have to plan for the long haul,” she said, adding, “We need to be wiser than right.”
Israelis will “have to respect our enemies. They may be more powerful than we thought,” she said.
“These terrorists are dangerous to the world, the free world. This is not a local problem,” Machikawa said.
Still, she told those in attendance, “We are hopeful. Wherever Jews are, they are our strongholds. You are the diamonds in the David shield.”
Suzanne Pollak is a freelance writer.
