‘Thank God, thank the soldiers’: Former hostages move Christian leaders at Nova site

For the delegation, billed as the largest Christian group ever to visit Israel, the day was about more than bearing witness to the October 7 massacre. It was also about deepening a political and spiritual alliance with Israel that many of them say was strengthened during the Trump administration, and which they now hope to defend in their churches, communities, and on US campuses.

At the Nova site near Kibbutz Re’im, the delegation received a detailed briefing on the events of October 7 from Col. Golan Wach, commander of the National Search and Rescue Unit and one of the earliest responders at the scene.

The delegation then heard from former hostages and survivors Emily Damari, Tal Shoham, Idan Alexander, Moran Stella Yanai, and Aviva and Keith Siegel.

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum and organizer of the summit, presented the six with the “Here Am I (Hineni) Award” in recognition of their contribution to international advocacy since their release.

Damari told the crowd that the initials FOZ, when pronounced, sound like the Arabic word for victory. “You are FOZ, which in Arabic sounds like victory, and we have won,” she said. “Thank God, thank the soldiers, and thank President Trump.” A thousand participants rose to their feet and applauded.

He told the audience that after returning from captivity, he requested to reenlist in the army. Having “learned the enemy” during the year and eight months he spent in captivity, he said, he decided that the only way to respond to what the terrorists did to him and to the people of Israel was to bring back all the knowledge he had gained and to help achieve victory.

Moran Stella Yanai, who was abducted from the Nova site, thanked Evans for enabling her to stand “before a thousand people at the very place where my ordeal began” and to express gratitude to God, to the soldiers, and to the people of Israel.

“After two and a half years, I stand before the world to show that I chose life,” she said. “I call myself a hero. I have won, and I celebrate my victory. The very fact that I am here is proof that we prevailed.”

Shoham thanked the evangelical supporters of Israel who stood with the country during “the past two difficult years while many in the world turned away.” A true friend, he said, “is revealed in times of distress.”

Evans, who has accompanied Shoham since his return, addressed the audience in tears. “You cannot imagine the suffering Tal endured,” he said. “For him to stand here before a thousand people after coming from such a dark place is a blessing from God and a strength granted by God.”

Aviva and Keith Siegel expressed their gratitude for the prayers offered on their behalf and thanked the people of Israel, the soldiers, and President Trump for his efforts to secure their release.

Later in the day, an emotional memorial ceremony was held at Mount Herzl, where one thousand Christian Zionist leaders laid Israeli flags and flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers. Organizers said it was the first ceremony of its kind in Israel.

Among those taking part were the widows of Israeli heroes, Lt.-Col. Tomer Greenberg and armored unit fighter Naftali Gordon, as well as the father of Nova hero Staff Sgt. Aner Shapira.

This event also took place as part of the FOZ Ambassadors Summit, initiated by Evans. The same delegation that had stood hours earlier at the Nova site now stood beside bereaved families, hearing firsthand how Israel’s fallen are remembered, and how the language of faith and sacrifice connects Israelis and Christian supporters.

Ashira Greenberg, widow of Lt.-Col. Tomer Greenberg, commander of a Golani battalion who fell in Gaza on December 7, addressed the audience and spoke about her late husband. She shared that after Tomer rescued the twin babies of the Berdichevsky family from Kfar Aza, he called her and said that despite the death and the intense battles they had faced, the babies renewed his sense of mission.

This echoed what he used to tell his soldiers, she said, that the harder the situation became, the stronger the motivation to act and fight, and the greater the desire to create change and do good. Ashira was deeply moved to hear the crowd shout “Hineni” and said, “Tomer would have been deeply moved by this moment.”

Pesi Gordon, the widow of armored unit fighter Naftali Gordon, shared her personal story with the audience, both as a bereaved sister whose sister was murdered in the Sbarro terror attack and as a widow speaking about her great love with Naftali.

Her message was that the history of the Jewish people teaches what can happen when Israel does not have a state and does not have an army to defend it. Therefore, she said, every individual has a duty to step forward, to enlist in the mission of saving the people of Israel, and to serve.

“We must not leave the task of defending our people to a small group,” she said. “Everyone must share the burden despite the difficulty.”

Moshe Shapira, father of Aner Shapira, shared the story of Aner’s heroism at Nova. He emphasized that Aner’s struggle “was not a battle of force against force, but a battle of the spirit of good against evil.” Aner left a legacy, he said, that evil must be fought through universal biblical values of human dignity.

He added that the fact that Aner succeeded in holding off armed terrorists for half an hour with his bare hands and saved many lives proves that good will prevail.

Organizers of the FOZ Ambassadors Summit say the week-long program will include meetings with Israeli officials, survivors, hostages’ families, and community leaders, with the aim of equipping participants to return home as more effective advocates for Israel at a time of rising antisemitism and intense campus activism across the US.