Two Mothers of Hostages Find Support in One Another

Stand for Israel  |  March 12, 2024

One is secular, and the other is religious. But both women are mothers of a hostage still held in Gaza. Both women have united over their shared situation and, no matter their differences, they are working together to bring their children home, reports The Times of Israel:

Ditsa Or, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Shilo, her hair wrapped in a scarf that marks her as a religiously observant woman, and Leshem Gonen from the northern town of Kfar Vradim, a secular woman in leggings, had a similar message to share.

They essentially said the same thing, without planning to, said Leshem Gonen via Zoom, speaking with Or, who was at The Times of Israel offices, on the following Thursday. Each woman spoke about the light within, about the ability to be unified…

For Leshem Gonen, Or feels like “a distant sister,” she said. “There’s something similar in our essence, in our courage. It’s like we grew up in different places, but I don’t think we’re that different actually.”

The two met within the first weeks of October 7, as they grappled with the shock and trauma of finding out what happened to their children on October 7.