Not everyone chooses influence.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks created many reluctant leaders. However, few embody the complex intersection of survival, loss, and unwavering determination quite like Yarden Bibas, Eli Sharabi, and Einav Zangauker.
Bound by what may well be the darkest chapter in Israel’s history, these three represent different facets of our nation’s response to terror: choosing life in the face of absolute despair, and transforming anguish into action.
Yarden Bibas: The weight of survival
Yarden Bibas returned to Israel on February 1, 2025, after 484 days in Hamas captivity, but his homecoming was overshadowed by the devastating absence of his wife Shiri and two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, the red-haired children who became global symbols of Hamas’s cruelty
Upon his release, family members described how Yarden constantly asked about his wife and children, while they struggled to provide answers they didn’t have. The influence Bibas wields today is not one he sought; it is the terrible authority of a man who has seen the depths of human evil and emerged to bear witness.
His Hamas captors tormented him psychologically throughout his captivity, forcing him to make propaganda videos after telling him his family had been killed, even telling him he’d get a “better” wife and kids.
Yet, in his first message upon returning to Israel, written on a whiteboard during his helicopter transport to the hospital, Bibas demonstrated the grace that would define his reluctant role as a voice for those still in captivity: “Thank you to all the people of Israel. I heard from my family that you have fought for my release. I want to thank you.” His influence stems not from his choice to be a symbol, but from his embodiment of resilience in the face of incomprehensible loss.
Eli Sharabi: Choosing life in the darkness
Eli Sharabi, held in Hamas captivity for 491 days before his release on February 8, 2025, published his memoir, Hostage, detailing his time in captivity, Like Bibas, Sharabi never chose to become influential; October 7 chose him when Hamas terrorists invaded his home on Kibbutz Be’eri, murdering his wife Lianne and daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, while dragging him and his brother Yossi into captivity.
“In the darkness of captivity, I chose life. And beyond it, I continue to choose life,” Sharabi told The Jerusalem Post.
“That choice means carrying the voices of those who cannot be here, every day, in everything I do, keeping their presence alive in my heart and actions.”
His book was written “so that the world will understand what life is like inside captivity,” driven by his conviction that “Once they do, they won’t be able to remain indifferent.” Sharabi has testified before the UN Security Council and spoken in international forums, but his influence transcends mere advocacy; it represents the moral weight of bearing witness to evil while refusing to be consumed by it.
His influence is rooted in his refusal to let survival be its own end; instead, he has transformed his freedom into a platform for those who remain in the tunnels of Gaza.
Einav Zangauker: The mother who chose to lead
Unlike Bibas and Sharabi, Einav Zangauker made a conscious choice to embrace the influence thrust upon her by tragedy. A 46-year-old single mother from Ofakim, the former house keeper has emerged as perhaps the most prominent voice in Israel’s “Bring Them Home” movement since her son Matan was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
Often called “Mother Lioness,” Zangauker has fearlessly confronted Israel’s most powerful figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she had supported in her previous existence.
Zangauker’s transformation illustrates how October 7 shattered traditional political alignments. Her activism has come at a personal cost – she has been physically attacked by passersby, injured by police water cannons, and even kicked by officers during demonstrations.
As the New Israel Fund noted when awarding her their 2024 Truth to Power award, “Einav won this award reluctantly; she didn’t ask to be in this position. Unfortunately, the disaster of October 7 found her.”