[ ]J Street[ ]
Friends,

“On Passover, we're supposed to imagine ourselves coming out of Egypt,”
Noam Peri, the daughter of 80-year-old hostage Chaim Peri said last week,
“Now we must imagine ourselves, or our 80-year-old fathers, as captives in
Gaza.”

I’m a secular Israeli kibbutznik, culturally Jewish. But this year, like
so many others, I'm finding deeper meaning in the symbolism of Passover.

Almost every day since October 7, I’ve volunteered with the Hostage
Family’s Forum headquarters here in Israel. I have friends who were killed
or taken hostage, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to
return each and every hostage to their family’s arms.

This Passover will be uniquely painful for those I have worked with.
Chairs left empty at the seder table for the very first time. The absence
of a brother’s laugh, a daughter’s jokes, a parent’s embrace.

At our seders, we not only remember and recall the story of the Israelites
held captive in Egypt and the Exodus, but we re-enact it. We celebrate
hard-earned freedom and re-learn the values of compassion and empathy,
even for our enemies. We are called upon not to forget the pain of
oppression and suffering, and our calling to build a better future.

But while over 130 people remain held hostage in Gaza – and with time
running out as dozens are reported to have died – many Jews in Israel and
around the world feel that we cannot celebrate that freedom. For many of
us too, a family feast of celebration strikes a discordant note while so
many families in both Israel and Gaza endure unfathomable grief.

As we gather for the holiday, many of us will leave empty seats at our
tables, keeping the hostages vividly in our minds. A reminder that the
struggle for freedom is not over. Together, we will draw strength from
Moses’ persistent, brave demand of the Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”

Today, on behalf of J Street, I reiterate the call we have made for more
than six months now: For the immediate, unconditional release of all those
held captive.

There can be no excuse for the crime of hostage-taking. For the relentless
pain and anguish Hamas has inflicted on so many families. We will never
cease to demand loudly and clearly: Let our people go.

J Street continues to urge American and global leaders to exert firm
pressure on all parties involved to reach an urgent deal that reunites
families with their loved ones and ends the devastation in Gaza.
Currently, this means demanding that countries such as Qatar, Egypt and
others with influence on Hamas exert all possible leverage to press them
toward compromise.

As hostage families repeatedly tell anyone who will listen: Time is
running out.

At this stage, only a negotiated ceasefire can bring freedom for the
hostages, end the devastation and allow life-saving aid to safely reach
families in Gaza. Longer term, we must work to isolate and disempower
Hamas, including by charting a peaceful, diplomatic path toward resolving
this conflict once and for all, and ensuring the horrors of October 7 and
the ensuing war can never be repeated.

Just as I feel deep empathy with the suffering of hostages, I also share
in the pain of families in Gaza struggling to survive – a people hoping to
one day achieve their own freedom and self-determination. As the Passover
story teaches us, no people should be denied that right.

On behalf of all of us at J Street, I wish you a meaningful Passover. May
we draw strength from one another. May we share in our collective pursuit
of freedom, safety and security for all Israelis and Palestinians.

Yours sincerely,

Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel

PS. J Street’s Communal Team has worked to create a Haggadah supplement
that echoes our values and priorities. If you’d like to use it at your
seder, you can [ [link removed] ]download it here.


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy
Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the
Jewish people. Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we
advocate policies that advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish
and democratic values, leading to a two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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