Breathing Again… Finally

_{Ran Gvili, Z”l. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum).}

Police officer Ran Gvili was among the first to rush out on the morning of October 7, to defend one of the communities near the Gaza border. That same day, he was murdered and abducted.

Yesterday, his body was identified in a mass grave containing hundreds of Hamas operatives’ bodies. In a life-threatening operation, and with the assistance of forensic dentists, his was identified, and returned to Israel.

Against the backdrop of everything we have endured over the past two and a half years, this story might at first seem marginal. But it is not. First and foremost, because whether alive or dead, Israel was not going to give up on his burial, or live with the painful uncertainty that maybe he is still alive; maybe he wasn’t murdered.

The tough reality we live in turned us into experts in that sense. For many years, we had a false hope surrounding the fate of navigator Ron Arad, and for 12 long years we waited for the return of Hadar Goldin’s body from Gaza (he was abducted long before this war even started). So it was clear that the Israeli society could not bear another similar story, of another soldier or civilian who would never be brought home for burial.

That is what mobilized the IDF to carry out Operation “Brave Heart”, in order to locate yesterday Ran Gvili’s remains and bring him home. The tears that overwhelmed the soldiers who finally found his body in the sands of Gaza, and the spontaneous singing they burst into – “Ani Ma’amin” (I Believe) in the coming of the Messiah, and even if he tarries, I will still wait” – say everything.

_{Emotional moments: IDF soldiers burst into singing (Video Credit: IDF)}

Until Ran’s body was found, the dozens of hostages who survived and returned to Israel since the war began were still in full mobilization mode. Their time and energy were mostly devoted to meetings with diplomats and world leaders, hoping to spark movement of any kind towards bringing the last hostage back; They met with media personnel and led protests – all in the effort to bring him home. Until yesterday, they were unable to even begin their own psychological recovery. Now they can finally slow down, breathe deeply, and begin to mourn and process the hell they have been through.

In a deep psychological and emotional sense, the war ended yesterday. The father of Hadar Goldin, who was abducted in August 2014 and whose body was returned only weeks ago, said yesterday: “Up until now, we were running. We can finally start walking.”

At the Knesset, the president’s house, across television programs, the same gesture repeated itself again and again yesterday: hosts and interviewees removed the pin with the yellow ribbon they had worn for long months (see Ambassador Huckabee, PM Netanyahu, and Israeli President Herzog remove the pin).

In the hostages’ square in Tel Aviv there is a stopwatch, counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds since October 7. Today it stopped – at 843 days.

In a few days, I’m heading north for several weeks. For a long time now, I’ve felt the need to slow down, soften my heart and let it awaken fully, wait on God, breathe different air, and write what has been capturing my heart for long months. At last, I’ll be able to do that, well… unless Trump and Iran decide to disrupt my plans and make me stay home.

Where is this all heading? What is going to happen next in this region? Only God knows. But amid the dramatic changes reshaping the world, and especially the Middle East, for a little while I am going to cuddle in that tender feeling that I had not had in long months and tell myself again and again: a horrific circle finally came to closure.

I wrote this post to bring you somewhat into a small yet expansive place within the soul of a nation that is learning to walk again. Just wanted to take you on a short journey inside ourselves and say that, in the end, the bottom line says: the people of Israel live! Am Israel Chai!