October 7th Commemoration

Good morning, everybody. We are about to get started, and I just want to say thank you to everybody who's here. I'm Liz Claman from the Fox Business Network. So glad that you are all joining us today. And yes, I had a bat mitzvah. No, I don't remember my haftarah, but yes, I am a proud Jew. Distinguished speakers, ambassadors, diplomats, and guests. We are truly thankful that you could all join us here today and this morning. Three years ago, we all remember what happened. It was the darkest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It took place, as we know, on October 7th. Terrorists from Hamas brutally stormed Israel and slaughtered 1,200 innocent civilians and took 251 men, women, and children hostage into Gaza. stuffed them in tunnels, starved them, assaulted them, and worse, for 85 of them, death. Through the horror, it has definitely been an excruciatingly long and painful process. It has a long vapor trail that may never go away, at least certainly part of it. But nonetheless, we have come together to face down that living nightmare and show up for one another. Here's the good news. For the first time since that horrific day, we commemorate October 7th without a single hostage, living or dead, not back home. Israel brought them home. Israel got them back. As we also know, though, the road to recovery is definitely not linear. It just isn't. It takes forever. And what the Jewish people have consistently shown is that through the darkness, we can come together, we can be a source of light. Today, of course, is always a day of mourning and commemoration of the horror of what happened. But now, three years later, we will rise, we will rebuild, and we will recover. Not because it is easy, but because we must. Today, we are joined by survivors of October 7th, who will share their very inspiring stories of bravery and strength as we continue to move forward on this third anniversary of October 7th. We want to begin by bringing up Chazan Yoni, who will lead us in the Hel Maleh Rachamim, that's the Jewish memorial prayer for those who have passed. In this prayer, we ask for remembrance and we ask for their spiritual protection and eternal rest. Chazan, please come up.

Thank you. I was asked that before I begin, I actually recite the words in English so that people understand that it's not merely a prayer, but a testament to history that we will never forget. God full of mercy who dwells on high, grant true rest under the wings of the divine presence among the holy and the pure who shine like the radiance of the heavens. to the souls of those murdered in the October 7th Massacre and the Hamas terror attacks, and to the souls of the fallen of the Swords of Iron War, the IDF soldiers, and the members of the security and rescue forces who were killed, slaughtered, burned, and lost for the sanctification of God's name, the people, and the land of Israel. Therefore, May the master of mercy shelter them in the cover of his wings forever and bind their souls in the bond of eternal life. God is their inheritance. and may they rest in peace where they were laid to rest and let us say, amen.

Shohechein bamromim Hametsei menuchan yichonai B'tseel kanfei hashchinai They are a lot, Kido Shimoteori, Keso, Araraki, Meirim, Omaziri. ולנשמות חללי מלחמת חרבות ברזל החיילים והצקוחות הביטחון וההצלה שנאגו ושנשחטו ושניסרפו ושניספו על קדושת השם העם והארץ לכן באל הרחמים יסתיימ בסדר כנפיו לעולמים ויצר ביצרו החיים את נשמותם אדוני הוא נחלתם וינחו בשלום

Thank you, Hazzan Yoni, we appreciate it.

May the memories of all who were lost on that day all whose memories are here, may their memories be a blessing, as we say, forever. I want to specifically take this moment, though, for me, because I thought a lot about coming here today, and one of the things that I thought was really important to bring up was that I wanted to say how grateful I am to the ambassadors and diplomats from other countries who stand with us. There are dozens and dozens of you here, and it means so much to us. Now, It really should not take bravery to show up and support a country that has suffered such a deep and painful wound. But in this upside down world, we the Jews do know and we appreciate that you are here and we applaud you. Thank you. And I know that a part of the reason that many of you have shown up is to show solidarity with Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon. Ambassador Danon, yes, applause. Ambassador Danon has been an unbelievable force for the State of Israel. He returned to New York August 2024 for his second term at the United Nations to be a defender of truth in a house where often truth is very too often denied for Israel. Ambassador Danon has worked tirelessly to fight for the return of the hostages and has used his voice to fight for Israel on the global stage. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my hero and a hero of Israel, Ambassador Danny Danon.

Thank you very much, Liz. Excellencies, distinguished ambassadors, survivors, and friends, good morning. Thank you for joining us today to remember the victims of October 7th, honor the survivors, and reflect on the strength that carried our people through these past three years. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge and thank my dear friend, Ambassador Mike Waltz and his team for your continued support and presence. We are grateful for the unbreakable bond between our nations. Dear friends, October 7th showed us what pure evil looked like. Today, we remember Hamas's savage attack, the massacres in safe rooms where entire families were burned alive, the missiles and rockets that rained down on Israeli communities, and the hostages who were dragged into Gaza and faced unimaginable cruelty. Three years ago, on October 7th, Hamas tried to break us. They did not. They changed us. They wounded us. They left scars that will never fully disappear, but they did not break us. We are here today to share stories of resilience in the aftermath of October 7th. Our history has taught us that resilience is not simply the ability to survive tragedy. It is a strength to rise from it, to rebuild, and to choose life. That resilience is part of our national DNA. We learned it from our ancestors in the Bible, like Moses, returning to the house of Pharaoh, demanding to let our people go. We saw it in the aftermath of World War II. The survivors of the Holocaust dedicated their lives to rebuilding the Jewish state. And now, after October 7th, we see the same resilience the resilience of the family who lost so much and of those still suffering from the pain. This has been a true fight of endurance. But resilience means more than enduring. It means continuing forward. In the wake of October 7th, Israelis made heroic choices that defined our people's character. Think about the father who dropped everything and ran towards danger to protect our country. Think about the mother who lost her son in the war and chose to keep raising her family. Think about former hostages like Eli Sharabi. After nearly 500 days in captivity, he came to the UN. Some of you met with him, and he spoke about choosing life after losing his entire family. Today, three years after October 7th, We see that same resilience in the heroes here with us today. We are honored to have Oria, Elia Cohen, and Ziv Abud with us. On October 7th, Oria and Ziv fled the Nova Festival and faced Hamas grenades and gunfire in a bomb shelter. Ziv survived by hiding among bodies of those who had been murdered. Eliya was taken from that shelter and spent 505 days in captivity. Ziv advocated endlessly for Eliya's return. When he finally came home, they faced another challenge, rebuilding their lives. Six weeks ago, they got married. Mazel tov. We were all deeply moved watching you celebrate under your chuppah. The song you chose was "Nitzacht Etti Akol." In English, "You overcame everything with me." We agree with you. You survived, you found each other again, and you chose to build a future together. That is resilience. Both of you represent the resilience of our people, the resilience to stand back on our feet, the resilience to defend our country in a seven-front war, and the resilience to fight until all 251 hostages came back. That is who we are, a nation that leaves nobody behind, a nation that could not begin to truly rebuild until we brought all of them back home. Dear friends, we still have challenges ahead of us. Hamas and Hezbollah must be disarmed. Iran still seeks our destruction. The security threats around us continue to evolve. Even in this building, the UN is trying to demonize and isolate Israel. They have turned the victim into the accused. Comparing our IDF soldiers to Hamas terrorists, we hear blood libels, genocide, war crimes, starvation. This year, Israel was put on a blacklist of countries accused of horrible crimes. Israel, the country that faced the most inhumane, barbaric atrocities on October 7th. I have heard some of my colleagues tell me that I take these attacks too personally indeed it is personal my daughter is serving right now in the IDF my son served as an officer in the IDF he was supposed to be on the rain base next to Gaza on October 7th the last minute he was released home for the holiday that's why it's personal the UN tries to demonize all of our sons and daughters, our lions and lionesses, who give everything so we can freely live in our homeland. So yes, it is personal. It's personal for all of us. We will not shy away from defending our cause and our people. These attacks will never break the Israeli spirit. In fact, they will only strengthen our determination. our determination to defend ourselves, our determination to stand up for the truth, and our determination to build a better future. We will stand up against hate. Last month, many of you joined when we launched a task force here at the UN to bring governments around the world together to fight antisemitism. We are strengthening our alliances. We are expanding our circle of peace. And we will proudly share Israel's story with the entire world. Not only the story of what happened to us, but the story of what we built afterwards. That is what resilience looks like. That is the resilience of Am Yisrael. Dear friends, the pain of October 7th will never fully heal. It has become one of many scars on the collective body of our people. But a scar also remind us that we are still here. We honor today those who survived, and we carry the stories of those who are no longer with us. But three years after October 7th, we choose to rise, to recover, to rebuild. Today, we honor the resilience of Am Yisrael, those who went towards danger and fought bravely to save lives. the heroes who decided to build a stronger future. We will continue to prosper, to build bridges, to pray for peace, and choose life. Our love for our lives, our families, and our country will never be broken. Not on October 7th, not ever again. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Ambassador, for your guts of steel and always having the voice on this global stage to stand up for Israel. Well, if anybody has steadfastly stood up for Israel, it is U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz. Mike Waltz is amazing. He has consistently supported American and Israeli values here in the halls of the United Nations and shown unwavering support for the Jewish people. Through Ambassador Waltz -- and you should know this, because I didn't, and when I heard about this, I thought, I've got to check this out -- through him and his team's effort, freed hostage Alon Ohel, a gifted pianist, performed on the USS Nimitz during the America celebration of 250 Independence Day. And what he did as an award-winning musician and an award-winning pianist was to join John Ondrasik and play music for the US soldiers on the USS Nimitz. Here to represent Israel's greatest ally, Mike Waltz.

He is so out of me I'm only a man in a funny red sheet Only a man looking for a dream I'm only a man in a funny red sheet It's not easy It's not easy to be.

Danny, thank you for your kind words. It's so good to be with you all again. I just had the opportunity to meet Aaliyah and Zeev just outside, and I want to start today with talking about you all. What you two endured is just, I think it's completely unimaginable to any normal human being. And Alia, there's one part of your story, I hope I'm pronouncing your name right, my Hebrew's not the best, but it's one of your story that I haven't been able to get out of my head, that the night before you were released, after 505 days, in captivity, chained, starved, tortured, believing that the love of his life, Zeev, had been murdered, because that's the psychological torture that the terrorists impose on people. The night before, Hamas tried to make him record one of their propaganda videos, saying, all was well. He had been treated magnificently, that it was all fine. He refused. He held firm. He said no. And the next day, as they were finally handing him over, Hamas tried to turn his release again into a propaganda moment. They put him on a stage, surrounded him with cameras, told him to raise his hands for the spectacle. He refused again. Elia, we salute you. I salute you. You are a proud, strong Jew. You're undefeated. You stood strong, man. And I'm deeply, deeply admirable. And I admire you. Zeev, when all that's happening underground, you were living through your own nightmare. You survived the music festival, one of peace and hope and fun underneath the bodies of people who had been murdered. You watched Aaliyah being taken away, not knowing whether you would ever see them again, see him again. 505 days, neither of you knew what had happened to the other. And thankfully, we now obviously know how it ends. Both were freed. Just a few weeks ago, as Danny just celebrated with you, that you both got married. And from what I hear about your wedding, it was beautiful, and you used it to celebrate new life and to honor those that can no longer celebrate life. And there's others. I think their stories should be heard, and we should take these opportunities and these moments to tell their stories. Ziv's nephew, Amit, who was murdered at the Nova Festival, And like Anir, who protected God knows how many innocents, do you know how they protected them? By picking up and throwing Hamas's hand grenades that they were throwing at a civilian crowd at a music festival. They picked them up and threw them back. Not once, not twice, seven times. I mean, that's a Medal of Honor, and it's multiple. in in our system. Sadly, it was the 8th grenade that Hamas threw at these civilians that killed him. Folks, I've had the honor over these last few years of getting to know many of these hostages and their desperate, desperate families, hearing many of these stories firsthand. The one thing that struck me as a veteran again and again. is their extraordinary ability to kind of do, to hold two things at once, to carry the memory of this immense loss, the suffering and pain, but at the same time moving forward and living such beautiful lives, building families, going back to work, telling your stories through art and through love and through peace. I want to recognize Oria Berlin, who's also here today for her unbelievable courage. She finished her IDF training on October 5th, a brand new recruit, just two days on the job when Hamas attacked her base. She was wounded in combat, obviously survived. But what I found so admirable, she didn't go home, she didn't rest, she didn't stay in the hospital. She went back to her duty. She stood with her fellow brothers and sisters in arms Thank you, Arieh, for your bravery, and I salute you too. I have to commend someone else who you just saw, Alon Ahale. Alon didn't just kind of magically arrive on the USS Nimitz. He was facilitated by and helped by my good friend, Ambassador Jeff Bartos, who as many of you know and is here for us and a real fighter for the US-Israel relationship. Alone was taken from the same shelter as Alia, and for much of their captivity, they were held together underground. To go from that to a year later, standing on the deck of the USS Nimitz, just as it returned on its last voyage, from combat operations in the Middle East against the Iranian regime on America's 250th in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor to sing that song with another great friend and fighter for the US-Israel relationship, John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting, was a surreal and amazing Just an amazing experience. Here's a young man who spent 738 days in Hamas activity. He had been held underground, away from his family, away from daylight, away from his piano that he loved, been such a huge part of his life. To see him playing on that deck was just an absolute beautiful symbol of freedom. And it struck me then, like, how much had changed in just a year. A year ago, 48 hostages underground, including two Americans, held in those Hamas terror tunnels. Their families were still waiting, calling us, begging for something to change. They were fighting every day. And now today, for the first October 7th commemoration since that terrible morning, every hostage out, the living are back with their families. those who were sadly murdered are home for a proper burial. Even Hadar Gold and Oran Shaul, who had been held by those depraved terrorists since 2014, were out and back home, which no one said was possible. President Trump thought it was possible, and he told his envoys He told me, he told Secretary Rubio, he told Steve and Jared to never stop pushing until we got them home. And we did. And I just can't tell you how amazing it was. I can tell you this firsthand from the moment we started transition in my previous role as national security adviser, from that first day, he was talking about these hostages. They were always top of mind for the president and his charge to all of us. I could tell you he was like, I don't want to see you guys again until we get them home. But that wasn't the end of the job. The president was determined and is still determined that we do not go back to that cycle of violence. that we don't go back to that old cycle where Hamas re-arms, Iran feeds its proxies with weapons and money, then we have another war, we have another attack, we have another generation of Israelis and Palestinians who pay the price. Colleagues, October 7th can never, ever happen again, and it will not ever happen again, and certainly not under this president's watch. And that's why he fought so hard and put together and put forward his 20-point peace plan. He then charged us to do what it seemingly was another impossible task to bring that plan to the UN of all places. Well, you know what? We got it done. Resolution 2803 passed through the UN Security Council 13 to 0. The UN endorsed that plan. It provides a framework for what? A Gaza without Hamas rule, a demilitarization of the strip, an international stabilization force, and a path towards reconstruction and peaceful coexistence. It's not guaranteed to work, folks, but what everything we've tried in the past was guaranteed to fail and had failed. And so the terrorists aim to isolate Israel and destroy any hope for peace. Let's take stock just for a minute of all the things that the media and the experts said couldn't be done. The biggest thing that they said couldn't be done was the Abraham Accords. Look, folks, October 7th completely, and I think irreversibly, has backfired on Iran and all of their terrorist proxies. The Shia crescent that Iran spent Decades and billions building has shattered. Assad is gone. Syria is no longer Iran's pawn. Lebanon is actually talking to Israel to break free from Hezbollah. Iraq is turning westward. All of these things, you never know this by reading any of the headlines, but most importantly, Hamas, its friends, and its backers are in shambles. And meanwhile, despite all of the experts that said it was impossible that the Abraham Accords would never survive all of these tests and conflict, meanwhile, the Abraham Accords are actually expanding. You wouldn't know that. But today, right now as we speak, Iron Dome technology is protecting cities like Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I mean, that, folks, that is just was completely unthinkable. Israelis and Arabs are standing shoulder to shoulder to defend the region from Iranian attacks. And just as recently as this month, Danny and I were able to host the foreign minister of Israel and the foreign minister of Morocco together as they expanded their relationship. They upgraded their embassies. They have direct flights. They're upgrading their trade and tourism. They're establishing new avenues for investment. So, folks, my bottom line is -- and I know I went a little long, but I think it's so important for everyone to hear -- have hope. Peace is possible. America will stand with the Jewish people. the terrorists are on their back foot. Be strong, be resilient, be wise, and know that what you're doing is right. Stand with your moral compass and know that this administration, the United States of America, stands with you. Thank you. It's good to be with you.

Thank you so much, Ambassador. He gives hope, and it can be done. mean, the Emiratis, the UAE, Morocco, Muslim countries standing with Israel, opening relationships, and it's for the better, and we hope many other countries will join. All right, so he stole a lot of my lines when it came to some of our future guests, but that's okay. I'm thrilled that you did. Let us begin, though, at least by talking about the fact that in the wake of October 7th, the nation and the world of Israel cried an ocean of tears. Words, no matter how kind and sweet, could not turn off the spigot. But as Hans Christian Andersen, the author, once said, where words fail, music speaks. Music can reach places that words cannot. After the attacks, Israeli singer Idan Rachel and songwriter frequently spent hours sitting in silence with many of the survivors, just silent, and then playing music for them. His music became the soundtrack of his healing. Ladies and gentlemen, we are so honored to welcome Idan Rachel to play for us today.

השעות העייפות שלא נותנות לזמן לרוץ הרגליים הכבדות שלא מוצאות סיבה ללכת הימים והלילות.

הכל עוצר מלחט כשאתה לא כאן ומתעוררת מחלום ומרגישה אותך קרוב ואז קוראת לך מתוך הלילה תחזור תחזור היום כל כך רציתי שתגיע הביתה mincha mincha הכבדות שלא מוצצים בהן הנחת הימים והלילות או הפנים שבתמונות הכל עוצר מלחט כשאתה לא כאן ומתעוררת מחלום ומרגישה אותך קרוב ואז קוראת לך מתוך הלילה תחזור תחזור היום.

כל כך רציתי שאתה גיע אל בית אבובי להודיה הודה יומני מגדל שלום מנח הקים ששוב תופיע אל בית אבובי להודיה הודה יום.

Todah Raba, thank you so much, Idan. Just beautiful. Thank you for bringing your music here, but also using it to help those who survived such a horrific situation. You know, there were so many shades of black pain after October 7th. You think about the pain of people who have an indescribable ache from now till the end of their lives after losing their loved ones, their friends, relatives. Also the pain of survival. You know, there's that survival guilt, the pain felt by those who came so close to dying that day, but survived only to find so many of their friends were killed. Oria Berlin, who Mike Waltz just discussed and talked about, October, she had just finished her basic training. She was 21 years old, but she was called back to her Kibbutz Ra'im base near the border with Gaza because there was so much tension. There's always a lot of tension there. She was called back and what she was was part of an unarmed, exclusively female branch, purely non-defensive. So what they would do is they would monitor the border for any incoming threats or missiles. On the morning of October 7th, terrorists swarmed that base. She is about to tell you her story of what happened and how she survived when many of her fellow soldiers did not. But the one thing that I'd like to say is that after she survived, she resisted what would have been an incredibly human urge to just curl up in a ball and hide from the world. She decided in order to honor her friends who had died those slain victims, she would use her voice and go to action. She became a spokesperson for the IDF diplomacy office, where she was awarded the President's Medal of Distinguished Service. She now travels the world to tell her story and remember her fallen friends and keep their stories alive. Today, Oria's travels of the world bring her here to us at the United Nations. Please welcome her.

Okay, wow, I'm so, so honored to be here, really. I'm shaking. My name is Oria. I'm a former visual intelligence observer in the Israel Defense Forces, currently serving as a reservist and a survivor of October 7th. Standing at this podium today is an immense honor. To every single person who chose to step away from your busy lives to be in this room, thank you. Your presence here and your commitment to bearing witness will never be taken for granted. My story began as an 18-year-old who enlisted with a profound sense of purpose. People had their stigmas about the observer role. They told me it was just staring at a screen for eight hours a day, that I will only be surrounded by other women, that it was a back seat in the uniform. None of that interested me. I knew that next to combat, it was one of the most vital mission a young woman could shoulder. On October 4th, our course ended. Over 400 young women graduating together to be deployed across the borders. I received my dream deployment, the Gaza sector, specifically the Northern Brigade, the brigade responsible for defending the incredible communities of Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz, Netiva, Sara, and many more. We arrived at the base on October 5th and immediately started our handover. In our profession, you must learn every single cravice and stone. And then came the morning of October 7th. I woke up to what I thought was a heavy thunderstorm. I looked up to the ceiling and thought how much I love the rain, how much I love thunderstorms, wishing I could stay in bed all day. Outside, thousands of missiles were raining down with a single objective, to destroy my life and the lives of my friends. A fellow soldier hammered on our door, urging us to go to the safe room. We ran barefoot in our pajamas, carrying no weapons. Five of us crammed into a tiny, dusty shelter, while just next door, 25 of our peers sheltered in another. For the first few minutes, we were so naive. When our officer told us over the phone that an invasion had begun, I thought to myself, OK, we learned about this in our course. A small squad of four to seven terrorists, max, our troops can handle that. 20 seconds after we hung up, we heard the sounds of wheels mixed with the chilling cracks of gunfire. I thought it was an armored vehicle coming to rescue us. It was 60 heavily armed terrorists on motorcycles executing a coordinated assault to slaughter or kidnap everyone on that base. Then came the screams, mixed with a chilling, incomprehensible sound, laughter and singing. It was clear that it was the terrorists who were laughing. For a human mind in that state of terror, while hearing people laugh outside is a fracture in reality. My friends sat frozen, deep in their phones, whispering their goodbyes or checking the news. I didn't have my phone to text my parents. In that terrifying silence, my mind drifted to the darkest places. I even found myself imagining my own funeral, picturing how they will lay me. to rest in the ground. We tried to close the safe room door, but the lock was broken. We couldn't push it shut too hard because it would make a sound, so it stayed slightly open, leaving a small gap that allowed me to peer outside and see what was happening. 00 p.m., a text flashed in our base's WhatsApp group, which is usually for what's in the dining hall and what are the activities for today. But it went something like this. "The base is clear. Shout 'Sahal' in Hebrew so our soldiers can find you." We stared at the screen. The Hebrew was broken, and we knew it right away. A terrorist had taken a soldier's phone. We stayed completely silent. Moments later, we heard a group screaming, "Tzahal, tzahal," followed by the most violent, deafening roar of gunfire I've ever heard. And then, silence. In that absolute void, where you have nothing left but your own mind, a childhood memory surfaced. Whenever I had a bad dream as a little girl, I would crawl into my parents' bed, and me and my mom would share this mantra, which translates to, I have power and happiness in my heart. I closed my eyes. I imagined a bright bubble of light pushing the darkness back. And I repeated those words over and over again. 00 p.m., 10 hours after the attack began, I looked through that small gap in the door and saw special forces coming to our rescue. They wore masks, so I could only see their eyes. But just by looking into their eyes, I knew I was home and I knew I was safe. Stepping out of that safe room was stepping into a post-apocalyptic reality of fire, blood, and devastation. The soldiers guided us through a narrow corridor cleared of traps, pointing at our snipers on the roofs who were watching over every step of the way. We reached the main hall, where the shock on the faces of our senior commanders mirrored our own. We were entirely unprepared. for the magnitude of what had happened. As the hours passed, we heard nothing from our friends at the Nakhala's outpost, the very people we had shared our lives with just 48 hours prior. And into that hole streamed the shell-shocked survivor of the Nova Music Festival, looking for safety. Eventually, we were sent home. We were fresh out of training, our handovers incomplete, our base shattered. At home, the devastating truth caught up to us. Our friends from the course were gone, murdered or kidnapped. I couldn't stay home. That was my turning point. Looking trauma in the eye, I chose to return to the uniforms, to the exact place I had desperately wanted to leave that Saturday morning. It was a life-changing choice. I was offered an exit from military service. I refused it. I served as an observer for another six months, the most fulfilling months of my life, acting as the eyes for our soldiers on the ground. When the psychological weight finally became too heavy to carry alone, I had the courage to seek the Army's medical support. And I transitioned past. I became an NCO in the IDF Public Diplomacy Office, leading international delegations from across the globe. I wanted the world to see that the IDF is not just an intimidating military force on a television screen. It was also a 5'2", fake lawn girl who simply wants to protect her home, her family, and her friends. I stood before audiences everywhere, from international organizations to high school seniors who told me I was wasting their time because of their deep-seated anti-Israel hostility. But I stayed. I spoke, because the truth demands a voice. My heart overflows with an unshakable gratitude that words can barely capture. Earlier in my service, I was deeply humbled to be chosen alongside 120 outstanding soldiers from across the entire IDF to receive the President's Award. But my greatest award and my greatest honor is simply standing in front of you guys today. to the special forces who bridged the fire, to the soldiers who fought and bled to secure our base, and to the fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives so that I could draw breath today. You are the shield of our nation. And above all, to my sisters, my fellow observers at Nakhala, your bravery was beyond human comprehension. While facing impossible odds, you didn't just fight for your own lives. With your last living breaths, you called in warnings to protect the civilians in the neighboring communities. And at the Nova Festival, doing everything humanly possible to save others, your heroism belongs to eternity. Because of their sacrifice, I am here today carrying their memory and promising that their light will never be extinguished. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, an Israeli lioness, Oria. Thank you. Thank you so much. Unbelievable. So I want you all to take a mirror and kind of turn it inwards at the moment for our next incredible conversation. I often think of Israelis who endured what befell the Nova Festival on October 7th. Ask yourself, could you have survived? Could I have survived being sprayed by bullets? Could you have survived hiding under the dead bodies of your friends? Ask yourself, What about those who were snatched by Hamas terrorists and taken hostage in Gaza? Could you, could I survive the initial terror? Could I survive a doctor yanking a bullet out of my body using a tweezers and no anesthesia in some hospital in Gaza? Could I, could you have survived being stuffed into a tunnel, tortured for 505 days, starved, you are about to meet the two brave Israelis who endured all of that. And here, in only the way he can to bring out their story, is the famed award-winning Dr. Phil McGraw. We welcome Dr. Phil, Ziv Aboud, and Elia Cohen.

Thank you so much. The two you speak of are going to join us in just a moment. Ambassador Danon, Ambassador Waltz, distinguished audience. I have to say, when I woke up this morning, I was overwhelmed by the reality that God truly does work in mysterious ways. Seriously, I grew up as a poor Christian kid in Texas and Oklahoma who seldom got off the block, was homeless at 14, never so much as met a Jew, never learned about Israel, couldn't have found it on a globe if you gave me two weeks, a magnifying glass, and a flashlight. I mean, I had no idea. Yet here I stand before all of you today with the tremendous honor of having been invited by the great nation of Israel to speak particularly to and about the Israeli people and Jews the world over on this third anniversary commemorating the tragic terror attack of October 7. And I humbly rise to the challenge for several reasons. I did eventually find Israel on the globe and learn about the country, the Jewish people, and the huge contribution they have made to mankind. For example, they make up less than two-tenths of 1% of the world's population, but they have earned over 20% of the Nobel Prizes in the sciences and economics. Now, I've spent time in Israel since 10/7. I've sat with the prime minister, sat with hostage families, sat with released hostages and Holocaust survivors. I've been on the campuses and faced down the useful idiots brainwashed by the activists for Hamas and other Iranian proxies. I've met with hundreds of rabbis in New York City, DC, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities, all in order to learn so I could speak firsthand about the truth to tens of millions of people. And I've had to learn to live with security. because of my stance, but that's okay. Right is right and wrong is wrong, and I know the difference. I was taught that difference. And I've also developed the ability for critical thinking, a skill set that is increasingly in short supply and never more needed than it is today. Hey, if it's on the internet, it must be right, true? I mean, that's just where everybody gets their information. October 7th will never be just another date. Because in 2023, it became the date more Jews were killed than on any single day since the Holocaust. It is now a psychological dividing line. There will forever be before October 7th and after October 7th. And psychologically, to understand the Israeli people, we need to understand trauma. We need to understand resiliency, individually and collectively. A traumatic event may have a beginning and an end, but its effects can be a lifelong challenge. And sudden, violent, brutal trauma is particularly resistant to healing across time. You don't just get over what happened on October 7th. It can actually change who you are. The worse the trauma, the deeper the damage. It is hard to even imagine anything worse than what happened on October 7th. Families burned out of their safe rooms and murdered, civilians beheaded and mutilated, women raped and gang raped, hostages living and dead paraded before cheering crowds in Gaza. Nine-month-old Kfir Bibas and his brother Ariel taken into Gaza, never to return alive. The body may heal, the hostages may come home, the family may bury the loved one, the news cycle may spin the story and move on, but the psyche, the nervous system, the brain do not. And research confirms probable levels of PTSD in Israel nearly doubled to 30% after 10/7. And we talk about PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. What about it is post in Israel? There's no post. It's ongoing. It's every day. The terrorists murdered over 1,200, kidnapped 251, but they impacted a million. That's the strategy of terrorists, target the few and paralyze the whole. And I can attest firsthand to the depth of their pain and the strength of their resilience and resolve. Just a few examples, Rachel Goldberg-Poland and her husband, John, their 23-year-old son, Hersh, abducted at Nova. Y'all were there, we'll talk about that. 11 months later, murdered in a tunnel. I interviewed them in Jerusalem and then again from the United States. Iran, Mosses, retired IDF at the Nova Festival, spent hours doing the unthinkable, recovering bodies and pieces of bodies. Hours till his hands wouldn't even move. So horrible he didn't even tell his own family what he had been doing. Aviva and Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli couple, abducted together from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Azaz. She for 51 days, he for 484. So many more. I witnessed that PTSD, anxiety, depression, crushing, crushing uncertainty and impaired functioning. It takes a toll on both the body and the mind. But I saw forward thinking, humbling levels of resiliency and determination. Absolutely inspirational. Standing in burned out kibbutz with blood on the walls, I heard voices crack describing a hail of bullets and no idea if your children had even survived. Horrifying, yet spirits undaunted as these people were describing what happened. And children, tears streaming down their face in a home they once thought safe, now a killing field. Shattering, yet these children too undaunted. Imagine watching loved ones dragged away as hostages, paralyzing, yet families and a nation standing strong in their faith. Psychologists call that unknowing. It's an ambiguous loss when you don't know whether to grieve or hope or both. An entire nation endured that special kind of hell For 843 days until the release of the final hostage, 24 year old Master Sergeant Ron Gavilli. That's exactly why loved ones were taken. That's why they call it terrorism. Some families even confided to me that they didn't know which was worse. Survival or death. because they worried so much about the torture that their loved one would go through. That's why they call it terrorism. Of course, October 7th impacted many more families than those families whose loved ones were lost or kidnapped. For Jews everywhere, the collective consciousness made the attack deeply personal, even from thousands of miles away. There but for the grace of God go I. And it's so meaningful to me to see this overflow crowd in this room today, so many different nations coming that don't dispute that this was a terror attack. Paradoxically, we've seen a surge of anti-Semitism triggered globally. In the US, anti-Semitic assault hit an all-time high in 2025. And for the first time since 2019, Jews were murdered on US soil. Two out of three religiously motivated hate crimes reported to the FBI targeted Jews. So if an attack half a world away feels like a threat to your own family, you're very right to exist. That's not paranoia. That is pattern recognition. One of the most basic human needs is acceptance, and one of the greatest fears is rejection. It is natural to seek understanding, belongingness, and clarity. And traumatized people, they're at risk to become even more sensitive to how they're perceived. That's why it's so important that all of us are here talking about this. It all begins with a simple question. Who is good? Who is evil? You know, it's often depicted as two wolves, one black and one white, nose to nose, good versus evil, and which wins out depends on which gets fed, nurtured, and valued the most. And when one side celebrates life and the other glorifies death, carnage and destruction, the distinction should be clear. But yet to Jews, it must appear the world has gone mad. Israel was the nation attacked, yet it is the one condemned. Condemnation when you have been the target of a terrorist massacre is disorienting. It creates confusion and a deep sense of injustice. It can seem as though evil is winning. But since its inception in 1948, Israel has invariably shown astounding strength, resolve, and resilience in the face of adversity. And October 7th was no exception. And research confirms that continued pattern. Israeli people collectively bend, but they do not break and should never be underestimated. That resilient spirit works to counterbalance the strength that they live every day and their strong moral compass, which clarifies right versus wrong, never wavers. And knowing and speaking the truth is also foundational to their mental, emotional, and spiritual health, particularly when facing an orchestrated zeitgeist of lies. Their faith and knowing the truth makes their resolve unshakable and their future predictably bright. Israel will prevail. Israel will win. and the United States will stand by them. When invaders themselves film and broadcast their crimes with pride, it seems like it would be pretty obvious to any rational people. Only those with competing agendas that could care less about the facts would bring any dispute or argument. But trauma creates a hunger for explanation. We ask why, why would someone do this? And that's why reality testing matters and why we must embrace the fact, embrace fact based on accounts that are truthful, not just emotionally satisfying. When a person was murdered or taken hostage, the story of that person's life is related truthfully. When a survivor describes their experience, their story is told robustly, as we just heard. If anything is ever related incorrectly, it is corrected. If mistakes are made, they are owned. The truth always win and wins. And that's why Israel stands so tall and with such a shining edifice. The truth of October 7th needs no embellishment. It is what it is and it is undisputed. And it's also important to note several things can be true at one time. October 7 caused enormous suffering to Israeli citizens. Hostages and their families experienced extraordinary trauma. And Palestinian civilians have experienced profound suffering, both under the rule of the same terrorists and during the ensuing war triggered by those terrorists. As a Christian, I also feel for Gaza's small and dwindling Christian community caught in the crossfire. Those statements don't cancel each other out. Human compassion is not a finite resource. It knows no borders, and often the best way to fill a void that we may feel is to extend to others what we need most ourselves. And this brings us to managing the mental health of an entire populace living with constant threat and manufactured hate. After a catastrophic, after a catastrophe and under constant threat, there's a tendency to tell survivors, you're strong, you'll get through this. Sometimes we use a language of strength to avoid acknowledging pain, but being strong doesn't mean you don't need help. And getting professional help doesn't mean you're weak. Being resilient doesn't mean you weren't damaged. Therapy can help. Appropriate medication can help. Faith, family, community, all can help. Routine can help. Just really getting sleep can help. Most importantly, you have to be honest with yourself. Refuse to be silenced. Give your feelings a voice. You're not the only one feeling as you do. You only suffer alone by choice. And if you're suffering, don't be ashamed to ask for help. I'm talking to everyone in Israel. Trauma takes over a life when it becomes impossible to put into words. If that happens, you just kind of relive it in a loop, trying to contain something too great to carry alone, trying to make sense out of nonsense. Until you can say it, you cannot manage it. And healing means the memory eventually becomes part of your history without controlling every moment of your life. And it does not mean what happened you decided was okay. And how long you grieve and how deeply you hurt is not a mirror to how much you loved or cared about the person you lost. Now, I have to take a moment to talk about the children, the children in Israel, the Jewish children around the world that see all of this anti-Semitism. Parents, you are the most powerful role models in your children's lives. They listen. They may roll their eyes, but they listen. And they are always watching. They absorb the emotional atmosphere around them, and not just from you, but also everything online. And believe me, they've always got this appendage in their hands. You may not be the only voice in your child's ear. You need to make damn sure you are the best voice in your child's ear. Meet them where they are, using words they understand, answering questions they ask. Let them set the tempo. They need reassurance without false promises. They need routine and boundaries. And both of those things matter more in the midst of chaos than at any other time. If you teach them to deal with the truth, they will inherit critical thinking and sound judgment. Israel's strength flows from cultural heritage, faith, and family. and you can never give your power away to others. Never let revisionist historians change your reality to fit their agenda. We take care of each other, but we must realize we can't take care of others if we don't take care of ourselves first. If you allow yourself to become emotionally bankrupt, you have nothing to give to those you love. October 7th has certainly remind us to rely on one another. We can't change October 7th. We cannot undo the deaths. We cannot erase what survivors endured. We cannot give families back people they lost, but we can refuse to allow the suffering of one population to become an excuse for hatred of another. We focus on the fact that mental health isn't just about helping people survive. but instead about giving them psychological support and healing to continue building for tomorrow. Israel will never be muzzled or manipulated. Above all, we trust in the fact that Israel, with its cultural heritage, foundation of faith and family, will continue to take care of each other. We know Israel will stand and the U.S. will stand with them. And I want to thank Ambassador Danone and Ambassador Waltz. And I want to recognize all the countries that are here today. For this commemoration of this third anniversary of this tragic attack. The loudest voice. Is not the one that should be listened to. We have to have a moral compass. And. I stand with and for Israel with pride. God bless you and thank you for allowing me to speak. Thank you so much. Thank all of you so much. If I can have Ziv and Elia come up and join me, we'd like to have a discussion. Thank you both. Let me start by having you introduce yourselves to our distinguished audience today. I'll start with you, Elia.

My name is Elia Cohen. I'm 29 years old. I grew up in Tzuradassa. It's a beautiful village between, near to Jerusalem. I'm Ziv's partner for more than 10 years. Before October 7, I served as a fighter in special forces, Sayeret Haruv, and I deal with real estate in Tel Aviv.

And I am Ziv, 29 years old also, from Tel Aviv. Before October 7, I study marketing and I survived Nova Music Festival.

You two were together at the festival, correct?

Correct.

And how long had you been there when the attack came? How long had you been at the festival?

So it's funny because we arrived to the festival at 4:40 AM. It means almost two hours before the attack was started. 29 the music stopped and the attack started.

So you arrived at 4:40. What had you two been doing all night?

So.

Okay.

We came to the festival actually just for my nephew, Amit. He was only 19. It was the start of his life. He wanted to dance in the holiday. And actually, we were old for festivals at that point. So 4.40 before the sunrise, it was enough for us. But the sunrise was very, very different at that festival.

Right. And take us through that moment, because I've been to the Nova Festival site, and there's nowhere to run. There's nowhere to hide. I mean, there's trees around, but they're not very thick. But take us through the moment that you realized what was actually happening, because the music was loud, there was a big crowd, Take me through the moment that you realized we're actually under attack here. Take me through that moment when it actually hit you in your mind.

So I remember how the music stopped. And for us, it was regular, because in Israel, sometimes the police stop the music. But then I saw in the sky a lot of missiles. And I said, OK. It makes sense because we're near to the border in Gaza. And I said, maybe they attacked us. And I don't want to be here. And I remember how I look at Zeev and I told her, I don't want to be here. I don't know what's going on. Let's go out from this area. And immediately we found Amit and Karine. And we took the car. And actually, really fast, we got out from this area. And on the road, 232, I got a phone call from my aunt. And she screamed to me and she told me, "Alia, where are you?" And I said, "What, what, what's going on?" And she told me, "Alia, someone shoot on my car. You have to stop your car." And I remember how I look at Ziv and I told her, "She probably high or she maybe took something, I don't know." And I said, "Who can shoot on her car?" But Ziv look behind and she told me, "Alia, we have responsibility about Amit and Karine. Let's stop the car." And I don't know if people know here, but in every bus station in the state of Israel, we have a bomb shelter because to hide from the from the missiles, it's a place with no doors, with no windows. It's supposed to protect you just for missiles. Can fit maybe eight people. And we are after this shelter and we packed together 29 people and.

In a shelter for eight. Yes, 29 people.

Yes. And I have to admit We actually didn't understand what's going on. So outside there was a lot of red alarm, but inside was really warm and we celebrate, we put music, we shared candies, we celebrate. We just came from festival like a random people. And then the attack was started, yes.

Okay, so it was chaotic when the music stopped, so you didn't realize an attack was going on.

No, actually no. We eyed at the first just four missiles. That's it.

Okay. And you didn't know until you got a phone call from somebody that wasn't at the festival.

She was with us in the festival.

Okay.

She danced with us five minutes before, and then we get a phone call. And even then, we thought to ourself, okay, terrorists, it's also regular in Israel, maybe one, two, the IDF will come. like, finish with it and we can drive safe to our home after. But it doesn't happen. It was, it was worse than what we thought.

Yeah. And you two eventually got separated.

After Elia was kidnapped, we were in the shelter, four of us, me, Elia, my nephew, and his girlfriend. And then the attack was started. And they came with two tenders, more than 40 terrorists, and they started to attack our shelter with any weapon they had to kill us. At the first, it was grenade. And we were lucky because we lost one hero with his hand, throw back the grenades outside from the shelter. He succeeded to throw back eight grenades. And then he got shot and he was murdered inside the shelter. Since that moment, Elia did something that probably saved my life after. And he covered me and Em with dead bodies. I lost my consciousness. Elia was kidnapped. And after seven hours, I wake up in the shelter. I found myself in a pile of bodies. It wasn't even a bodies, it was a part of a bodies, sorry. And I started to looking for Elia, but he wasn't there. And I didn't understand what happened to him. Next, I saw my nephew and his girlfriend, and both of them was murdered inside a shelter. And I needed to sit with the bodies for seven more hours. After that, someone came with a location that his son sent them that morning. My son was murdered inside the shelter, but he saves us. And I was one of seven survivors.

You know, that's we it's hard to conceive. We sit here in this room today and, you know, we're all dressed nice. It's air conditioned. And these are words that we're speaking. But it's it's hard to imagine hours and hours lying under dead bodies and parts of dead bodies and being trapped there. You don't know where he is. And when you describe something and you're hearing it, you can't experience the smell, the humidity, the temperature, all the things that go with it. And that's why I say this isn't post-traumatic stress disorder. This is something that is ongoing. And then the war ensues after that. And then Ilya is lost. He's gone. And That's why we call it ambiguous loss. You don't know whether to grieve or hope or both. What was that like for you not knowing?

So it was a difficult days because like you said, the smell is staying with me until now. And I know it's going to be for the rest of my life. And it was 505 days with the knowing that I lost my nephew. We were four people that went to the festival from the same house, and I'm the only one that came back home that night. And I was fought for him for 505 days without knowing nothing. And it's also stay with me for the rest of my life, but now he's here and I can look forward to the future after we got married. And I know this experience will stay with us. Like you said, it's post-trauma, and it's not post because we are in the trauma right now. And I hope it will be better in the future when we have kids and family, because we are here and we survived, and we need to live a normal life. I hope.

Well, it will be better because you will make it better. And people that support you and come together will help you make it better. And we'll talk about that some more in a minute. You always hear about survivor's guilt. Did you feel guilty that four went and one returned? Did you question why you?

Always. Always. You can just imagine. Since then, Alia was a producer of music festivals. So every person in the dance floor, we knew. And we lost more than 48 friends. And of course, it will always with us. And we feel guilty. After Ali, I got released from captivity. I also felt guilty that he is outside and he's felt not. Yeah.

You were taken. How did they abduct you? How did they get their hands on you? And tell us about that moment when you were abducted and what went down.

So think about it. All what you heard until now, it were just the few minutes of my new life. And we were under all the bodies, a lot of blood around us. Just five minutes ago, me and Ziv say goodbye to each other. Ziv told me, at least in the sky, we will be together. And no one could separate us there. And the terrorist kept throwing the grenade inside. They kept a lot. And I remember how they shot RPG. And then was completely quiet. And I knew this is the moment that they're supposed to come in or to kidnap me or to kill all of us. And I just closed my eyes. And when I opened them, I saw three terrorists with huge smile. And they fill in us. And one of them realized that I am alive. So he approached me and he told me, come with me. And I said, I can't. I just got shot on my leg. And he point his gun to my head and told me, if you're not come with me, I will shoot you. And I just stood. I moved bodies. I didn't look behind to understand what happened to Ziv, Karine, and Amit. And I got out from this shelter and they started to kidnap me. You mentioned, here's Goldberg, Polinsky, kidnap with me together. And you mentioned, Alon Oel. So we were all of us together. And the last thing I saw before being taken to Gaza, it was one of the terrorists. He went back to the shelter to make sure that no one was left alive. So he shot many bullet to all direction. And I knew this is the moment that I lost everyone. I lost Ziv, Amit, Karine, and we started to drive to Gaza, to my new life.

We just have a few minutes left here. Describe the darkest hour during your captivity. What was the darkest hour for you? Wow.

Describe 505 days with a lot of torture to conversation like this, it's really hard, but I had no any kind of conditions. They didn't let me to change clothes or to get shower, even to eat or to drink, a lot of interrogation, violence. They chained me with heavy iron chains by my leg. They put a lot of LD in the wall because they didn't want us to go to sleep. Every hour or two hour, they came and scream, "I'll walk back to our home," because they want us really to afraid from them. They didn't let us, of course, to go to the restroom, so we pee on ourself almost every week. And it was almost impossible to survive. But every day I remind myself and I didn't let myself to tell to myself that this is a hard situation because I saw it as an opportunity because I saw how many people die on October 7. And I said, Elia, there is a chance you go back home. Don't think about the violence. Don't think about the terror. Don't think about everything. Just continue, stay strong, and maybe one day you will come back home. to your family. I so just about my family and the faith with God that God plans to me this and maybe one day I will go home.

Well, two questions I have for you in wrapping up. What is your defining emotion about all of this right now? Is it anger? Is it bitterness? Is it resolve? Do you seek forgiveness? What to have forgiveness in your heart? What is your defining emotion after 505 days?

First, I want to say that anger will not give me nothing. And if I want to continue, I can't be angry about nothing. But there is something that I want to say, that we live in Israel, and when they kidnapped me and I was chained and I was kidnapped, I wasn't surprised because I chose to live in Israel, and I know which enemy we are dealing with. And it's difficult because all the people in Israel are deal with those situation. They are maybe not kidnapped, but they walk in the street of Tel Aviv and they sitting in bar and they are afraid to got shot. Or you can walk in Jerusalem and you are afraid that someone will kill you. So all the rest of Israel live the same situation. I don't count myself as a special or something. Just what happened to me, it's different situation that someone in Jerusalem went through.

If there are attackers that these terrorists that are watching this right now, what would you say to those terrorists that abducted you and created this pain? If they're watching right now, what do you say to them?

I won. I won and I'm here. And you're probably underground in your tunnels with your humus and your people.

And I'm here. And you had no way of knowing, but the number one tool of the abuser is isolation. You have no way of knowing But what do you say to the nation of Israel and Jews around the world that stood and fought for you every minute of every day, led by this amazing woman right here? What do you say to Israel, the Israeli people and Jews around the world that stood and fought for you every day?

First of all, I love you and I hug you and stay proud to be Jewish and stay proud to be Israeli. And it's not new. For thousands of years, people have tried to hurt us. For the whole history, people have tried to hurt us and maybe they can kill us, maybe they can rape us, they can kidnap us, but there is one thing they can take from us and it's our identity. So stay proud to be Jewish and we are here to stay.

Well, let me tell you, it wasn't just Jews. The rest of the world fought for you too and I was among them and it was my honor to fight for you as well. God bless you and thank you both for sharing.

Inspiring words. Elijah, if you want to come sing, you can sing. It's just that you aren't here.

one day it will happen without us realizing that something has changed something will come to us something will come to us and there will be nothing to worry about and this will come like a rope around your hand this will come.

Bravo. It's only the UN. Just come on up. And he gets up there and he busts a move. All right, as we finish up again, thank you, thank you, thank you for being here to support Israel. And if you could, just please stand as we sing the Israeli national anthem.

Kolod baleva penima nefesh ye'udi omiya ulfatei misra kadima עין לציון סופיה עוד לא אבדה תקוותנו התקווה בת שנות אלפיים להיות המחושים be אל חי