At the request of former hostage Yarden Bibas, MK Chili Tropper read aloud in his speech before the Knesset plenum and the prime minister on Monday, as part of a "40 signatures" debate, the painful speech written by Yarden.
The full Yarden Bibas letter to Netanyahu
"Mr. Prime Minister, my name is Yarden Bibas, and as my speech is being read to you, I am sitting shiva for my wife, Shiri, and my children, Kfir and Ariel—innocent and pure children who were kidnapped from their home and murdered in captivity. They could and should have been saved. The cursed terrorists conquered Nir Oz in sandals; my family and I were abducted with unimaginable cruelty from our home to Gaza."
"On that cursed morning, the state was not in Nir Oz. There were only local heroes—members of the emergency security and brave fighters who did everything they could and even paid with their lives. And today, 514 days later, I have returned from Gaza to an unbearable reality in which I had to bury my entire family in one day. I would not wish this terrible nightmare on anyone. And despite the unbearable pain, I ask you, at this moment, to stop. The time for revenge has not yet come."
"At this stage, we are obligated to immediately bring back our brothers, including my best friend David Cunio and his brother Ariel. David has been my friend since first grade, my neighbor from the kibbutz, and he is rotting in Hamas’s tunnels. I know that I will never again be able to hug my wife and children. But Emma and Yuli—David’s daughters, who were kidnapped to Gaza when they were just three years old—are waiting to embrace him. His wife, Sharon, deserves to hold him in her arms."
"After we bring David and all the hostages home, I will be the first to support any action you take to topple Hamas. As a resident of Nir Oz, I know that we must defeat Hamas because, otherwise, we will never have security. But we must always uphold the sanctity of life, the dignity of the dead, and never leave anyone behind—otherwise, we have lost our very essence."
"Mr. Prime Minister, 514 days and nights have passed, and you and your government have still not taken responsibility. The demand to establish a state commission of inquiry is a demand that unites the people of Israel—83% of Israeli citizens demand it, along with 1,500 families from the October 7 Victims’ Families Forum, including myself. Its purpose is not a personal vendetta but to draw lessons to prevent the next disaster."
"I call upon you, Mr. Prime Minister—unite the people of Israel, bring peace to our souls, fulfill the will of the people and the families. Announce today the establishment of a state commission of inquiry that will strengthen Israel’s security, prevent another disaster, and give me and the entire nation of Israel answers. How did it happen that nine-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel were kidnapped and murdered along with their mother, Shiri, in unimaginable cruelty? How did we reach a situation where, during those long hours in the safe room, no one came to rescue us?"
"I constantly think about and regret not protecting my wife and children better. It eats away at me from the inside. And all I had was a handgun, and I was just a civilian in a quiet kibbutz. Do you think about this? Do you also struggle to get through the day and night without feeling a heavy sense of responsibility for what happened? Are you capable of saying it out loud and in clear words? So many civilians are asking for forgiveness. So few politicians are asking for forgiveness. So many civilians and soldiers are taking responsibility. So few government officials are taking responsibility."
"At her funeral, my sister Ofri said something that deeply resonated with me: ‘Apologizing means taking responsibility and committing to act differently, to learn from mistakes. An apology has no meaning before the failures are investigated and all those responsible are held accountable. Our disaster, as a people and as a family, should never have happened. And it must never, never happen again."
"I have no interest in settling scores over the past; I am trying to gather strength and look forward. I ask that we all do everything in our power to make things better here—more united and stronger. From the window of the car that took us on the funeral procession, I saw the people of Israel. I saw a broken country—religious, secular, and ultra-Orthodox people standing together with flags and tears. I felt that they were truly with me. I did not know them, but I felt that they were my brothers and sisters."
"What are you in the leadership doing to preserve this unity? Do you wake up every morning to divide us, or to strengthen us from within? In my eyes, this is no less important than sending planes to eliminate enemies. This is our strength. This is our spirit."
"Finally, I turn to you, Mr. Prime Minister: I have not yet entered my home in Nir Oz, and I do not know what awaits me inside. I ask you to come with me, to join me for the first time since October 7. I ask that we do this together. If we do not look this disaster in the eye, we will not be able to recover."