After 737 days of anguish, the last Israeli hostages are finally home.
In our hearts, we stood alongside the thousands gathered in Hostages Square, united in hope and prayer as we awaited this moment.
Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Eitan Mor, Omri Miran, Matan Angrest, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Elkana Bohbot, Ariel Cunio, Segev Kalfon, Avinatan Or, Rom Braslavski, David Cunio, Maxim Herkin, Bar Kupershtein, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Matan Zangauker, Nimrod Cohen, Evyatar David, Eitan Horn, are now free.
We salute their courage, endurance and dignity, and we send our warmest wishes for their homecoming and healing.
At the same time, we mourn the hostages who did not return alive — those who perished in brutal captivity under the cruelty of Hamas. May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing. We also honour the brave IDF soldiers who gave their lives or were injured fighting terrorism on multiple fronts, and we grieve for the innocent civilians who have suffered in both Israel and Gaza.
Today marks a turning point — a moment to rejoice and hope. Yet the struggle is not over.
When we founded British Friends of Israel, we pledged to stand loudly and proudly against antisemitism, to call out terrorism and to stand with Israel and the Jewish people in Britain and around the world.
We did not anticipate the scale of antisemitism and anti-Zionism here in Britain — the ‘Israelophobia’ as Jake Wallis Simons has termed it.
Even today, of all days, bias seeps into mainstream reporting. The BBC’s Chief Political Correspondent, Henry Zeffman, referred to a “hostage exchange” — a phrase that grotesquely distorts the truth. On one side were twenty innocent men. On the other, about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners. Those convicted prisoners, many guilty of murder and terrorism, were tried and sentenced in a democratic state.
This false equivalence is unacceptable.
If you share our outrage, we encourage you to make your voice heard by submitting a complaint to the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints
Today we celebrate freedom and resilience, but we also renew our commitment to truth, justice and the fight against antisemitism.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Warm regards,
British Friends of Israel.
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