After 759 days of anguish and agonizing uncertainty, my son Itay has finally been returned to us from captivity in Gaza. Since he was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, bringing him home has been all I and my family have dreamt of. 

We prayed for a different ending, one where my son would walk through the door alive. We prayed for a return where we could hear his voice again, laugh with him, and embrace him. But that is not the reality we are facing.

We will bury Itay in the coming days, and when his body is laid to rest, our hearts will break once again. They will break in ways they have not broken since that day when Itay, along with other members of his tank crew, fought and died as heroes, saving countless lives with their bravery. Only one of their crew, Matan, survived, and thankfully, following over two years in captivity, he is once again in his home, embraced by his family. We had hoped for a similar miracle, but it was not to be. 

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Having Itay returned for burial in Israel has been unfathomably painful, but nevertheless, merciful. For as long as Itay remained in captivity in Gaza, we have been unable to mourn, to grieve, to move forward, and hopefully, to return to life. 

I am incredibly grateful to the U.S. administration for its unwavering commitment to securing the release of the hostages. Their leadership and conviction ensured that we did not wait indefinitely for the return of our loved ones. Without this political will, without their intervention, we would have been left with more unanswered questions and more daily agony. We would never have been able to truly mourn. 

But even as we mourn, we cannot forget the families still waiting.

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Even with Itay’s return and our personal closure, the pain is far from over for the families whose loved ones remain behind. There are still six families waiting for their loved ones to be returned from Gaza. We cannot move on. We cannot close this chapter. For them, the nightmare is far from finished. For these families, and for all of us, the war is not over. Our fight is not complete. We cannot rest until every last hostage is home. 

The loss of those murdered on that dark, dark day of Oct. 7, along with the horrible toll of the war that followed, has shattered so many. But we know that from this deep tragedy, we must build something stronger. I pray that the ultimate sacrifice of so many, including Itay, will not be forgotten, and that it will push us towards a future of unity and healing for the people of Israel.

This is a turning point for our nation. Israel cannot simply return to business as usual, to petty politics, to rhetoric, to fights between ourselves and our neighbors. We must rebuild not only our country, but also our sense of togetherness. We must rebuild the spirit of Israel, a spirit where unity is our true strength. We must rebuild in the memory and in the honor of all those we have lost. We owe it to them to do our utmost to end this never-ending cycle of violence with our neighbors, for a better future for all of our children. 

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We are at a crossroads. The Israeli people have been tested by grief. The future of Israel depends on the leadership that emerges from this crisis. We now need leaders who will unite us, who will bring healing and restoration. 

As I bury my son, I choose to believe that his sacrifice and the sacrifice of so many others will lead to something greater, to an Israel united as never before, where we stand together in the face of this terrible tragedy, where we strive for a better country and a better region, and where we promise never to leave anyone behind again.

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