Jewish Club hosted Liz Hirsh Naftali, an activist who worked with the Trump administration, the Biden administration and members of Congress to free hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, to speak in Ahmanson Lecture Hall on April 8. Naftali is the great-aunt of Abigail Mor Edan, who, at three years old, lost her parents and was taken hostage by Hamas.
Naftali visited Israel the week of Oct. 7 and first experienced Hamas’ terror attacks from the safe room of her Tel Aviv hotel. Naftali said she immediately thought of her family in kibbutz Kfar Aza on the border of the Gaza Strip, who would have had seconds of warning before an attack.
“In my hotel in Tel Aviv, I woke up to sirens,” Naftali said. “Sirens are a normal part of Israel, which is horrible. You run to a safe room, you’re in Tel Aviv, you’ve got 10 minutes [to find shelter before a missile could reach the city] and then you go out and start your day again. But on this morning, the sirens just kept going. I started to learn that something was happening along the border of Gaza, and the first thing I thought about was my family.”
Naftali’s great-niece, Edan, lived on the kibbutz with her parents and her two siblings. At 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, paragliding Hamas terrorists crossed the Gaza border and triggered the alarms on their kibbutz. Edan’s mother was rushing the children to the safe room when a terrorist barged into their house and murdered her.
Edan’s father carried Edan as they tried to run away, but a terrorist murdered him and he fell on Edan. The older children ran back home, locked themselves in a cabinet and hid there for 14 hours before they were rescued.
Edan’s family thought she had died on Oct. 7, trapped under her father’s body. Three days later, the family learned that Edan’s body was not found on the kibbutz. They began to believe Edan had been kidnapped and was still alive in Gaza.
Naftali returned to the U.S. to share Edan’s story and, a week later, she went to Washington D.C. with family members of other hostages. In Washington, she handed out hundreds of Edan’s photographs to politicians, journalists and their staff. Naftali said she shared the photo because she believed it was her mission to free Edan.
“I wanted to show that this was the face of a hostage, this beautiful little girl,” Naftali said. “I took this photo, I looked into her eyes and I said ‘I’m going to save you.’”
As Naftali advocated for the hostages’ release, she worked to ensure the crisis retained bipartisan support. Though Naftali was a Democrat and had worked within the Democrat Party, she said she disregarded partisanship following the terror attacks.
“I had worked in Democratic politics before Oct. 7,” Naftali said. “On the morning of Oct. 7, my world changed. I went to bed as a Democrat, but I woke up as an American.”
Edan was freed after 51 days as a hostage in Gaza. She celebrated her fourth birthday in Hamas captivity but has since reunited with her siblings. The three children were adopted by their aunt and uncle.
Though Naftali’s great-niece is free, she said she continues to push for the release of the remaining hostages.
“I keep talking because we need to get these people home, the 59 hostages, 24 young people we know are alive,” Naftali said. “We need to bring the hostages home so these families can move forward, so Israel can move forward and so Jewish people can move forward. For now, we are all stuck on Oct. 7.”
Jewish Club events coordinator Noa Blackman ’25 said Naftali helped the audience understand the Oct. 7 terror attacks on an emotional level.
“Events like this give students a chance to engage with real-world issues in a deeply human way,” Blackman said. “Hearing directly from someone personally affected by something as complex and devastating as the Oct. 7 attacks helps us move beyond headlines and statistics. “
Calia Tractenberg ’27 said she valued the presentation because it highlighted the events of Oct. 7.
“I love to attend these events to show my support for what these amazing people are doing to help support the Jewish community,” Tractenberg said. “Once people realize the true depth of the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, they can band together to help stop antisemitism. Naftali spreading the word about what happened can help people understand this event, which hasn’t had the spotlight it deserves.”
Maya Leibzon ’25, who also attended the event, said she is optimistic because Naftali’s advocacy for the hostages, beyond her own great-niece, will help ensure the issue continues to be addressed until all the hostages remaining in Hamas captivity are released.
“[Edan’s] story is horrific, but ends in a way that promotes hope,” Leibzon said. “She is an innocent girl who watched her parents murdered in front of her and was taken hostage before she turned four. Her name, her face and her story make people keep remembering the urgency of this moment. There are more people who are still hostages and they are going through unimaginable trauma. When people keep talking about the hostages, more people react and start coming to save them.”
