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Buenos Aires, Argentina

101 Hostages, 362 Days in Captivity
'The Hostages Are Buried Alive, and There's No Solidarity. Mutual Responsibility Has Crumbled'
A year after his son Tal Shoham was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, Gilad Korngold is disappointed with the government – but also with the Israeli public. 'I wonder what kind of country we live in, when shortly before the anniversary of the kidnappings people will go on vacation and celebrate Rosh Hashanah,' he says. 'In my dreams, I would expect a revolt, but I know it won't happen'
Gilad and Nitza Korngold, parents of hostage Tal Shoham, this week. 'I'm already planning what to say to Tal, about Tal, if something happens and he doesn't come back," Gilad says, choking up.Credit: Moti Milrod
Liza Rozovsky
Gilad Korngold knows for certain that his son, Tal Shoham, was abducted alive to Gaza on October 7, uninjured and separately from his wife, Adi, and their two children, Naveh and Yahel, who were released after about 50 days in captivity as part of a deal at the end of November. He also knows that Tal is a strong person. But beyond these facts, Gilad knows nothing of his son's situation since October 7.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, he says that the condition of both him and his wife Nitza, Tal's mother, is deteriorating. "We've lost hope. Because we're not succeeding. We want to do everything, but we can't. I always said that a country is much stronger than individuals, that a country doesn't forget. And now I'm already planning what to say to Tal, about Tal, if something happens and he doesn't come back," he says, choking up. "What can I say about him? What can I say to him? Tal, I'm sorry we couldn't succeed? It's sinking in. They buried them alive."
Korngold speaks of his bitter disappointment with the state, the government, and the ministers, none of whom "stand up and tell the prime minister: 'This isn't right.'"
His anger over the lack of progress on the deal is compounded by frustration over the prime minister's irresponsible behavior, including his recent statement to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that half of the 101 hostages remain alive, despite the official determination that only 35 of them had been killed. "When you said only 51 hostages are still alive, why did you do that? Why did you tell the families that? Where did the other 15 come from? Who are they? No one knows."
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But almost a year after his son's abduction, Korngold is also disappointed with the public. "I wonder what kind of world and country we live in, where on Rosh Hashanah, just before the anniversary of the kidnappings, everyone is celebrating and going on vacation for four days, spending time with their families and enjoying themselves, while there's a whole circle of families who gave their lives – and some of us also gave the lives of our [loved ones who are held hostage] – just because we were defending the State of Israel, which abandoned us?" he says. "In my dreams, I would expect a revolt, where no one celebrates Rosh Hashanah but instead go out and say: 'How can there be 101 hostages and shattered families?' But I know it won't happen."
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"I wish the people of Israel would come out for the hostages the way they once protested against the high cost of living. That was amazing. It was total solidarity across the country. We slept in tents, took to the streets, and didn't let the government rest. That's not happening now," Korngold laments. "Mutual responsibility has crumbled—the responsibility to share in the pain of other families. Going out once a week, and not enough people at that, then folding up and leaving, that's not enough. That's the breakdown of solidarity."
Korngold says he encountered this same breakdown of solidarity and complacency from the government years earlier, after his nephew, Captain Liad Lavi, was killed during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. "When we came with tough questions after the war, we were pushed aside as traitors to Israel, and slowly we were forgotten. When I talked about it with Nitza, my wife, I told her then: 'It's a matter of the nation's health. People can't live in mourning all the time. But today, it's not a soldier who was killed and brought for burial. It's living people. They buried our people alive, and there's no solidarity, and it seems like there won't be any."

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