Bereaved father: Neither right nor left seek victory

During the meeting of the Knesset Constitution Committee today (Monday), a bereaved father criticized the fact that the threat from Gaza has not yet been removed.

Coming on behalf of the Heroism Forum, Avi Bornstein, father of Staff Sergeant (Res.) Uri Moshe, who fell in battle in Jabaliya five months ago, came to the Knesset to criticize the Israeli leadership for its failure to prosecute the war.

According to Bornstein, "I ask everyone to remember that these soldiers went out from October 7th to bring back the hostages. Not just to wage war - but to bring back the hostages. And this issue has unfortunately been forgotten. And what has changed in Gaza since then? What's happening now in Gaza?

"Today we couldn't go plant trees for our fallen soldiers due to threats. Uri Moshe was named after his great-grandfather who was murdered in the Holocaust. As a son of two Holocaust survivors, I was sure that the State of Israel could prevent a massacre like we saw, and that we would know how to defeat the enemy as we did in the past. I immigrated to Israel in '88 with that belief. How naive I was. And my son, the soldiers, female soldiers, and hostages - they all paid the price because our leaders failed to remember the words 'never again'."

Bornstein continued, "Unfortunately, neither the right nor the left are working toward victory. At Uri's funeral, I didn't talk about my son, I talked about our leaders and where is the United States, and behold a miracle, a great miracle. President Trump is giving us a green light to eliminate Hamas and move forward to bring back the hostages.

"And what are we doing in our country? Nothing. Have we forgotten our soldiers and the purpose of this war altogether? The return of the hostages, the collapse of Hamas's rule and its military capabilities. So why aren't we fighting? Every day of quiet, as if it's quiet, the enemy digs another tunnel and prepares another RPG to kill another one of our soldiers."

"I turn to you, I ask you, to remember the heroism of the sons who fell. It's time to act for victory, and not to stutter. Please, stop working to achieve temporary quiet and in return we'll get another national disaster. Demand the fulfillment of the war's objectives that our soldiers went into battle for. Demand in laws that we have the safety of our people and our country.

"Take some of the heroism from the sons, vote for victory now. And remember the words of Uri who said on the tenth of Tevet a year ago, the following words: 'This is our opportunity to restore the war and the power of the Jewish people,'" Bornstein added at the end of his remarks.