Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel welcomed the Diplomatic Corps to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Thursday for a special Passover Seder, dedicated to calling for the immediate return of the hostages.
Among the key speakers were rescued former hostage Noa Argamani and Ditza Or, the mother of her partner Avinatan Or, who is still being held captive in Gaza.
At the event, Haskel, Argamani, and Or addressed the crowd of international figures, sharing testimonies of kidnapping and captivity, and spoke of captive Avinatan Or’s character.
Among the room of diplomats was an empty table, bearing only placards of hostage posters. This table was representative of those still held hostage and unable to spend their Passover holiday as free people in Israel.
Argamani’s harrowing re-telling of October 7, from the moment they understood that something larger was at hand and began running for their lives, before finally being abducted, shed light on a traumatizing experience. While trying to escape terrorists, Argamani said she had heard someone screaming about a terrorist, then scream again and go silent, murdered in cold blood, just feet away.
Remembering hostages on Pesach
She addressed the crowd, telling them about who she was held in captivity with and periods in which she was surrounded at all times by five terrorists, her understanding that the men she was held with had been killed by Hamas terrorists, and being surrounded by deadly weapons with no real knowledge of where she was.
Argamani addressed the topic of freedom in light of the Passover holiday.
“While we’re talking about freedom, there are 59 hostages, innocent people, from whom freedom was taken,” she said emotionally.
Captive Avinatan Or’s mother called for her son’s return, talking about his three-year anniversary with his partner, Noa, and his “heart of gold.” She spoke of his love for children and his endeavors volunteering in a pediatric oncology unit. She said that her son had already been kept in a state of darkness and uncertainty for well over a year, even as he spent his 31st and 32nd birthdays as a hostage.
“Avinatan’s story is not just a story of grief, it is the story of the larger struggle of freedom of humanity and of a worldwide collective future,” Or said.
“More than 60 ambassadors came today to show solidarity with Israel,” Haskel told The Jerusalem Post. “I hope they go back with [Noa and Ditza’s] stories in their hearts. We need more international pressure on Hamas.”
Haskel addressed the crowd by sharing the story of Passover, drawing parallels between the more than 3,000-year-old story and the current situation in Gaza.
“Families gather for the Seder, a ritual meal featuring symbolic food, matzah, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs to retell the story of the Exodus [by reading from] the Haggadah … a participatory “guide” with “prayers, song, and discussions about the meaning of the holiday – which we experience today.” But, she said, “for the second year in a row, it’s hard to fathom a celebration so fundamental to Jewish and Israeli identity – the original story of Jews breaking the shackles of bondage and returning to their ancestral land as free people,” Haskel said.
“Fifty-nine of our brothers and sisters are still in chains in the dungeons of Hamas hell in Gaza, while the perpetrator of these crimes against humanity, Hamas, remains armed and in charge of Gaza.”
