Posted on 10/30/24
Jerusalem, Israel - Oct. 30, 2024 - President Isaac Herzog opened the gates to Beit Hanasi in Jerusalem, Israel, on Wednesday evening to welcome families of heroes of October 7, 2023. He and his wife Michal walked around the ground to greet the living heroes and the invited families, individuals, Jewish, Druze, and Bedouin, who rose and went to save lives on that Simchat Torah morning a year ago.
The official program was set in the back garden, as the sun set, and the evening weather turned cold. Blankets were available for families of those honored. Warm hugs, tears, and tissues, but present were beautiful babies to provide hope for the future.
President Herzog spoke to open the program: "Heroes of Israel, dear audience, Michal and I are very excited to open our house, the president's house, the people's house, to you. It seems to me that today there is not a single person in the entire country, whose world has not been shaken. Shaken, and changed, beyond recognition, since the fence was breached over a year ago, and human monsters penetrated the borders of the country. Since a satanic enemy darkened the joy of the holiday for us. Murderers, butchered and burned precious ones, burned houses to the ground that were full of love. They did not spare anyone - from firefighters to old men. We will never forget the brokenness, the darkness, and the immense pain that filled all of us on that day of Simchat Torah, that cursed, bitter, 7th of October. In the days - we all remember - we walked around in pain, stunned, speechless, groping our way in very thick darkness. But - and we all remember this too - as the hours ticked by, glimmers of light also began to appear.
"Little by little, stories from the heart of the dark abyss rolled out from word of mouth, in networks and headlines and newspapers; And the atrocity and terror were mixed with stories of heroism the likes of which we had never heard. Great, noble, and awe-inspiring acts of heroism, unique - on a historical scale - of men and women, fathers, mothers, elderly, and children, who were revealed in spectacular mental enormities, in situations of terror and darkness on the face of an abyss. "A voice called and I went, I went because the voice called," wrote Hana Sanesh in other days, bitterly and hurriedly, and they too - heard the same voice, and with a sense of "I am" truly inconceivable, stood in front of the most heinous acts and their actions - they were a steadfast light for us and brave.
"On that cursed day - the seventh of October - we suddenly saw how warriors of a different kind rose for us: civilians. "Ordinary" people in quotation marks from a multitude of beliefs, views, and lifestyles, that without an order, and commanders, and without an order other than the dictates of the heart, stood up and took action. They rose because within them lived a loving, human, and brave Israeli heart. And the strength of spirit, wisdom, resourcefulness, responsibility, and love that were revealed in those hours are sublime manifestations of heroism, which deserve to be learned and recounted, and written in the history of our nation, and in the history of all humanity, until the last generation. "What kind of hero", asked our sages thousands of years ago, "what kind of hero", we ask in every generation, and here - by real merit - we saw before our eyes the pulsating face of heroism. Its embodiment in ordinary men and women, who stood in front of the impossible, in front of the unbearable, in front of the inhuman, and dared to die, and sometimes also sacrificed their lives, with the commandment: "Thou shalt not stand on the blood of thy neighbor" guiding them.
"Among these heroes - were children whose bravery we are celebrating today - who acted with responsibility, greatness of mind, and extraordinary bravery.
"In the face of this hidden light, emanating from so many hearts, I chose to establish the "President's Award for Civilian Heroism", the highest award in the country for civilian heroism. May he allow us - the entire State of Israel, to kneel before the civilian heroes and heroines, and to cherish and raise these noble deeds to a miracle. It is not for nothing that the recipients of the awards, which are awarded here today for the first time, form a spectacular human and Israeli mosaic: of individuals and families, adults and children, women and men, Jews, and Muslims, from all walks of life and society. These heroines and heroes are a symbol and example of what we long to see in ourselves as a people and as a country - a symbol of guarantee, resilience, and heroism.
"I am confident that this tradition, which we are establishing now, will continue to accompany Israeli society for generations."
The President also thanked the members of the "President's Medal for Civil Valor" committee under the leadership of the former Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein and those involved in the selection process. Judge Rubenstein told BJL that from 200 nominations the committee had to cut down to 60 heroes, and carefully check stories to reach the final 20 honorees.
The late Moshe and Eliad Ohayon; Joseph Aziyadana; The late Leon Bar and his son Omer Bar; Oz Davidan; Tali Hadad of Ofakim; the late Amit Mann, Nirit Honvald-Kornfeld, and the late Dr. Daniel Levy of Be'eri; the brothers Noam and Vishai Slotki, late Moti Ezra; Cousins Ismail, D'Haish, Hamed, and Rafi Alkarnawi and late Binyamin Shemoni.
Also, the President asked for a special category for children's heroism: the awards went to the children of the Idan family, the children of the Taesa family, and the daughters of the Suissa family.
A short video presentation was shown before each award, and relatives accepted for the heroes murdered on October 7.
After the program ended the President and Michal Herzog posed for photos with the guests in the Beit Hanasi main hall.
