Mother’s Day for Hostage Families
Day 583 of Hell
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day in North America.
For the mothers of the Hamas hostages, of course, the day will be yet another agonizing 24 hours. Yael Alexander, the mother of 21-year-old IDF soldier and hostage, Edan Alexander, also marks her birthday this weekend. (It was yesterday, in fact.) As one of three “hostage mothers” participating in an online press conference on Thursday, she shared that this was always a joyous time with her family. Brunch in a special spot in Manhattan with her husband and three children - not far from their home in Tenafly, New Jersey - was a long-standing tradition.
Yael and the other two mothers participating in that news conference were the subject of my latest column in the National Post, which you can read, below. As always, we include the first few paragraphs and then invite you to continue reading the full piece at the link.
Vivian Bercovici: Mothers express anguish as world turns its back on Israeli hostages
In the lead-up to Mother's Day, three hostage mothers plead for their children to be released
“It was very difficult to hear Bibi and Sara Netanyahu talk about three hostages not being alive,” said Herut Nimrodi, the mother of Tamir Nimrodi, a young soldier who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, at a media briefing on Thursday.
Herut Nimrodi last communicated with her son the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, when he sent his mother a series of text messages, not knowing that terrorists had already infiltrated his army base.
At 4 p.m. that day, Nimrodi’s 14-year-old daughter saw her brother in a video on social media. He was barefoot, in his pyjamas, without his glasses, clearly terrified, and trying to shield his face from the relentless blows inflicted by Hamas terrorists. Tamir Nimrodi was led by force and walking on his own.
Since then, the family has received no sign of life. No sightings of him in the tunnels. No psychological warfare videos.
Herut Nimrodi shared that her family worries profoundly that their beloved Tamir may be one of three of the remaining hostages who have been murdered. If, in fact, that is even true.