A year ago, the hostages were a rallying point for solidarity in Israel – now, their families are symbols of the country’s sharp divides

People in Tel Aviv protest against the Israeli government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip on Sept. 21, 2024. AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean

In the run-up to the first anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel, there has been no shortage of dramatic events making headlines in Israel. On Oct. 1, Israelis took shelter during Iran’s missile attack. In the days leading up to the attack, Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s longtime leader, in Beirut; invaded Lebanon; and saw its economic rating downgraded, to name a few.

What was notably missing from the newspaper pages were the 101 hostages still held by Hamas, with about a third presumed dead. Their faces still look out at you from posters and flyers on walls, billboards, fences and bus stops, as well as in ads and banners in newspapers and news outlets. However, their stories have faded from the spotlight, where they had been for nearly a year.

When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the state was experiencing its most severe political conflict since its establishment. Many saw the right-wing government’s attempts to overhaul the judicial system as an effort to dismantle Israeli democracy, sparking weekly mass protests. For a few short weeks after the attack, the protests subsided, and it seemed as if Israel might overcome its internal divisions in efforts to retrieve the hostages.

However, the hopes for solidarity soon faded. The hostages quickly went from a symbol of national resolve and unity to a symbol of the country’s preexisting divides.

A woman wears a blindfold during a September 2024 protest in Tel Aviv calling for a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.
AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg

As a scholar of Israeli culture, history and politics, I have been monitoring coverage in Israel and abroad. On the international stage, the image of the hostages has been employed to justify Israel’s devastation of the Gaza Strip – and now its military operations in Lebanon. Within Israel, however, attention on the hostages has posed a significant challenge for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition.

Two groups, two priorities

Most advocacy efforts for the hostages are channeled through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a volunteer-based organization that focuses on “bringing our loved ones home by any means necessary through all available channels” – including as part of negotiations for a cease-fire or a complete military pullout from Gaza.

However, a small group of families established a rival organization, the Tikva Forum – meaning “Hope.” They state on their website: “The Tikva Forum will not allow our children, parents, and friends to be used to bolster our enemies or enable them to repeat the attacks of October 7th. Our only option is to win this war and to remove any incentive to ever attack Israel again.” Viewing the liberation of the hostages as less important than decisively defeating Israel’s enemies, they oppose efforts to de-escalate the conflict or negotiate with Hamas.

Pictures of fallen Israeli soldiers are displayed during a Jerusalem rally against a hostage deal, organized by right-wing Israelis with relatives held hostage in Gaza and their supporters.
AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

It is no surprise, then, that these two forums have aligned themselves with opposing political camps, with the prime minister’s coalition embracing the Tikva Forum.

Thorn in the government’s side

In the weeks and months after the attack, members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum became increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu and his government. Following the first Israel–Hamas prisoner exchange in November 2023, which saw the release of 80 Israeli hostages and 25 foreign nationals, it became evident that key factions within the prime minister’s coalition opposed any further deals that might involve concessions to Hamas.

Bringing an end to the war would thwart far-right parties’ vision of resuming Israeli control over Gaza, expelling Palestinians and renewing Jewish settlements there. Time and again, they have threatened to withdraw from the coalition and trigger new elections if Netanyahu agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza – and recently, in Lebanon as well.

Members of Netanyahu’s coalition have disparaged appeals made by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. More than once, legislators from the prime minister’s Likud party have accused the forum of serving Hamas’ interests. Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the foreign affairs and defense committee, ran into an uncle of a hostage in the Knesset and told him to “get out of my sight.” When hostages’ family members told Nissim Vaturi, the deputy speaker of the Knesset, that their loved ones were going hungry in Gaza, he responded: “Did you eat this morning? So everything is fine.” Netanyahu himself only met with families of hostages murdered in Gaza in June, eight months after Hamas’ attack and only after prolonged public outcry.

For many, such conduct symbolizes the failure of politicians to secure the life of Israeli citizens, and their disregard for their pain.

In response, members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum have taken an increasingly public role in demonstrations against the government. These have intensified significantly in recent weeks.

Relatives and friends of hostages Hamas is holding in the Gaza Strip block a road during a protest demanding their release, in Tel Aviv.
AP Photo/Oded Balilty

Controversial ceremony

The Oct. 7 memorial ceremonies themselves illustrate the current state of Israel’s polarization.

An official ceremony will be led by the minister of transport, Miri Regev. The kibbutz communities which bore the brunt of the Hamas attack, however – home to many of the hostages still held in Gaza – announced that they would not take part. They noted that Netanyahu and his government have yet to take responsibility for the disaster and that they showed little care for the victims and survivors of Oct. 7.

When Regev planned to visit Kibbutz Be’eri, the site of one of the most horrible massacres, residents asked her not to enter the kibbutz. According to an investigation from Israel’s Channel 13, her spokesman said, “These Kibbutzim are the extreme left. … We have to get the minister a camel and a kaffiyeh. Start chopping off heads,” suggesting the minister should finish the work started by Hamas. Regev likewise threatened that Be’eri “will be the last kibbutz to be rebuilt.” She dismissed criticism of the official ceremony as “background noise.” Attempting to pacify the public outcry, President Isaac Herzog offered to host the state ceremony instead, but Regev rejected it outright.

Yigal Sarusi, center, mourns during the funeral of his son, Almog Sarusi, who was killed in Hamas captivity in Gaza, at a cemetery in Ra’anana, Israel, on Sept. 1, 2024.
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

On their part, many families of victims and of hostages decided to boycott the official ceremony and hold alternative ones, with the main one to take place in Tel Aviv.

Shaping the story

Indeed, the government seems intent on controlling how Oct. 7 and its aftermath are remembered and diverting attention from its failures – embodied first and foremost by the hostages. Government guidelines for commemoration ceremonies in schools, for example, mention neither the hostages nor the ongoing war in Gaza as topics to be discussed. Instead, they suggest focusing on those who were killed and sharing stories of heroism.

From this perspective, the recent military operations in Yemen and Lebanon and the possibility of strikes in Iran have been advantageous for Netanyahu and his coalition. For the first time in a year, Israeli actions have generated headlines showcasing Israeli success.

While Israelis remain divided on the objectives of the war in Gaza and the best strategies to free the hostages, recent polls indicate that 90% of Israeli Jews support the offensive against Hezbollah. Following recent military successes, approval ratings for the prime minister, minister of defense and military chief of staff have improved significantly: to 37%, 57% and 63%, respectively.

As the anticipated military escalation looms, attention has been diverted from the hostages and their families, and some have expressed concerns that those in captivity will be all but forgotten. Their fears appear well grounded.

Shai P. Ginsburg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.