Boca Tribune Article
By Marci Shatzman
Think you know what’s really going on in Israel, who the hostages are and what they went through?
Not after you hear what Lee Yaron, 30, a journalist for Haaretz newspaper had to say at the Boca stop on her book tour for “10/7: 100 Human Stories.” The book is about the Hamas massacre of Israelis called the largest since the Holocaust, the impact on Israeli society and the families and people affected “without a political agenda,” as one reviewer described it.)
Here’s excerpts from her Q&A with B’nai Torah Congregation interim senior Rabbi Jack Moline and six questions from the audience. (Rabbi David Steinhardt retired this summer after 31 years.)
“That day (ended) the dream of Israel being a safe haven for Jews. That’s the same thing I heard from victims. I didn’t want these people to be remembered solely as victims, so we started with their grandparents and why they came to Isreal. One came from Holocaust survivors in Romania. Another from 1492 in Portugal. The book was to show the diversity in Israeli society. America shows us as one group. In Israel 50% are 30 or younger. My generation never felt we had a chance to solve it (the Palestinian and Gaza situation). It is my hope my generation will be the one to change it. We want a different future.
Q: What happens tomorrow? (Set for a hostage and prisoner exchange and proposed ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza). Will Israel be different?
A: Tomorrow is the day Israel can start to heal. The overlooked topic is how many women in the cabinet are involved in war negotiations. (Despite many women serving in the Israeli military, all the powers-that-be including Hamas are men, she said earlier. She would like hostage families, especially mothers, to have a seat at the table “on both sides.” That got applause from the audience.) We need people just concerned about healing. I want them to lead us now. We can’t change the past. We should fight together for a better future.
Q: There stories tear at our hearts. Is there any possible reconciliation?
A: Hamas murdered the people who believed in peace the most. Now they might say, ‘we feel like fools.’ Many families are more committed to people than beliefs.
https://www.bocaratontribune.com/bocaratonnews/2025/10/israeli-reporters-book-talk-in-boca-will-leave-you-breathless/
