Lapid: Defeating Hamas can wait, bringing Gaza hostages back cannot

President Isaac Herzog was met with chants of "shame" as he spoke at a 24-hour rally at Tel Aviv's Hostages' Square on Sunday evening, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, to mark their loved ones' 100th day since being taken by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

The families of the Gaza hostages called on all Israelis to join them in Tel Aviv before Herzog's speech, which wrapped up 24 hours of ongoing rallies and exhibits in honor of the hostages.

"Come stand at our side during the president's speech. Don't stay at home," the Forum said in a statement.

40-year-old Hagar Broduch, who was kidnapped and returned to Israel after 51 days along with her three children, said that hostages in the Strip are "dealing with constant hunger, alienation, unbearable cold, never-ending longing, and psychological terror.

"IDF bombings put the hostages in real danger," Broduch said in Tel Aviv, recalling her experience in Gaza. "When I was taken with my children, we were exposed to difficult scenes of hostages with amputated limbs, wounds that are not being treated...the clock is ticking.

"My soul, my children's souls, will not be able to begin the healing process until all hostages left behind are back home," the freed hostage told the crowd in attendance. "136 caskets...that is not a victory. They do not have much time."

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid charged that the government has not done enough to free the hostages because the hostages are not home yet. Defeating Hamas and bringing back the hostages are equally important goals, Lapid said, but they are not equally urgent. Bringing home the hostages must come first, Lapid said.

"Our hearts broke on October 7," he added. "As long as there is one Israeli hostage in the tunnels of Hamas, our hearts will remain broken," and as long as the hostages are not returned, "We are all being held hostage," the opposition leader said.

"The government of Israel must pass this test. There is no other option," Lapid said.

Another speaker was former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who has been touted as a possible successor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as leader of Israel's right-wing camp. Cohen pledged to do everything he could to help bring back the hostages and called on the Israeli government to increase its national and international efforts to bring them home.

"The Jewish, Israeli, Zionist spirit will be victorious," Cohen added.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, also a possible Netanyahu successor, sent a video message to the rally.

Erdan said that he was fighting on the international stage against ambassadors from hostile nations and against the UN Secretary-General, who he claimed was doing nothing to help the hostages.

"The real humanitarian crisis" was that of the hostages in Gaza, and that was what the UN should be focusing on, Erdan said.

He pledged that the UN Secretary-General and members of the UN Security Council would "not have a moment of quiet" until the hostages returned home.  "We will continue to sound their cry at the UN," he said.

Gaza hostages' songs must remain playing

Liora Argamani, the mother of hostage Noa Argamani, said at the rally, "Noa has been held captive by Hamas for 100 days, and I don't understand how it can be, how she is still there. I want to say thank you to the people of Israel, your help warms me my heart. Thank you, I love you very much. I hope I will be able to see her before my last day."

Daniel Weiss, a resident of the ravaged Kibbutz Be'eri, who lost both his parents in the October 7 attacks, performed on stage in Tel Aviv, singing "This song must remain playing."

Daniel's father, Shmulik, was murdered during the Hamas terrorists' infiltration of the kibbutz. His wife, Yehudit, was taken and murdered in Gaza. The IDF in November located her body near the Shifa Hospital and returned it to Israel for burial.

Also performing in Tel Aviv was musician Tamir Greenberg, who gave a rendition of "Coming Home" to the crowds of hostage families and other Israelis.

On Saturday, six suspects were arrested by Israel Police on suspicion of disturbing order after protesters emerging from the rally blocked the Ayalon highways.

A nearly 100-foot long (30-meter) tunnel exhibit was also unveiled at the plaza, opened ahead of the rally. The exhibit stood just feet away from the Shabbat table set up in honor of the kidnapped, set up in their honor in the earliest days of the war.