For more than two months the reality of our lives has been an ongoing nightmare. The horrific assault on the 7th of October undermined the very foundations of our existence – for all of us.
This blood bath threatens to drown us all.
More than two months after that terrible day, 129 people are still being held hostage by Hamas, without medicine and without basic provisions. I call upon anyone with influence to use it. We cannot allow the hostages to remain there. We are all responsible for one another, in good times and in bad, in hardship and in hope. My heart is with the many families who have been living in torment for too long, torn between despair and hope.
My heart also goes out to all those murdered in the attack, among them close friends of mine. I was fortunate to meet many Israelis from the communities near the Gaza Strip who understood perhaps better than any of us that their future is entwined with the future of Gaza.
Many of them are no longer with us, yet their legacy echoes: Our default mode must not be the military option. It may sound to the public like a magic solution, but it only serves to increase hostility and hatred and does not offer an alternative to the ongoing bloodshed. Without hope for those living in Gaza there is no security for the Israeli communities near the border.
