{"id":25570,"date":"2025-06-04T02:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T23:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=25570"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:26:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T12:26:38","slug":"president-meets-freed-hostage-says-we-can-bring-them-all-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/president-meets-freed-hostage-says-we-can-bring-them-all-back\/","title":{"rendered":"President Meets Freed Hostage, Says “We Can Bring Them All Back”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Tuesday evening with former hostage Omer Wenkert, who was kidnapped on October 7 from a bomb shelter in Kibbutz Re\u2019im after escaping the massacre at the Nova music festival. The meeting took place at the President\u2019s Residence and was attended by Omer\u2019s parents, Niva and Shay. The conversation touched on memories of captivity, the challenges of post-release life, and the urgent need to bring home those still being held.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The moving meeting between Omer Wenkeret and President Herzog | Photo: Haim Zach \/ GPO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Praying for Everyone\u2019s Return<\/strong>
The president told Omer: “I\u2019m truly overjoyed \u2014 on behalf of an entire nation \u2014 to see you here. I know what kind of hell you went through. You had no television, no one spoke to you \u2014 and now you\u2019re here with us. This sends a message of encouragement to everyone still there, and it\u2019s a cry to pray and speak out in every possible way until every last one is brought home, as quickly as possible.”<\/p>\n

“This isn\u2019t a political issue”<\/strong>
Omer, who was held in Hamas captivity for over a year and freed in February, spoke directly to the president and the public: “Above all, we must bring the hostages back as quickly as we can. This isn\u2019t a political matter \u2014 it\u2019s our duty as a people and a country. It\u2019s been more than 100 days since I returned \u2014 that isn\u2019t a short time. People think it\u2019s a clich\u00e9 that every moment counts, but it\u2019s the truth.”<\/p>\n

His parents echoed his words. His mother Niva said: “They don\u2019t have even one more minute. Let\u2019s save them. Let\u2019s save ourselves so we can begin to rebuild.” His father Shay added: “It\u2019s possible. We can bring them back. Omer can testify to what he went through there \u2014 and we\u2019re here, until the last hostage is home.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Isaac Herzog met with former hostage Omer Wenkert and his family, expressing joy at his return. The meeting underscored continued national commitment to securing the release of all captives held in Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":25571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8,6],"tags":[4350,3135,2752],"class_list":["post-25570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-politics","category-security","tag-freed-hostages","tag-omer-wenkert","tag-president-isaac-herzog"],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Meets Freed Hostage, Says "We Can Bring Them All Back" - REGA news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Meets Freed Hostage, Says "We Can Bring Them All Back"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Isaac Herzog met with former hostage Omer Wenkert and his family, expressing joy at his return. 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