Yehiel Yehud, father of freed hostage Arbel Yehud, on Monday, read at a meeting of the Knesset’s State Control Committee a letter Arbel had written to the committee, with his help:
״תחזירו את כולם. במהלך אחד. את החיים ואת המתים. אל תפחידי את העם בשאלת המחיר. תפחידו את עצמכם – אולי זה מה שיגרום לכם לשמור על אזרחי המדינה בעתיד״, יחי יהוד, קורא בכנסת את המסר של בתו, ארבל, לנבחרי העם. pic.twitter.com/MzNgURxpzR
— sivan klingbail סיון קלינגבייל (@sivan_kli) February 10, 2025
“I learned Arabic, and I understood just how gleefully they speak about the division in our nation. I thought it was psychological terror aimed at deepening the discord between us. I was shocked when I returned and found out that we had turned it into a political issue.
“I was held alone for some 490 days. One can imagine only some of the horrors I experienced while in captivity, but when you witnessed the day of my release, you knew that despite everything, I returned focused on the goal: to bring back my love, Ariel, and his brother David. Now, I am facing a long rehabilitation process. On Sunday I told my father: ‘Do not let up, do not think otherwise, bring all of them back; those who are alive, and those who are dead.’”
The meeting was chaired by MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid).
יחי יהוד, אביה של ארבל יהוד שנחטפה לעזה עם בן זוגה אריאל קוניו:
״ילדה שלי, הדאגה לשלום נפשך וגופך מטריפה את דעתנו. האם ישנת הלילה? מה הם דורשים ממך לבצע בהם בשביל פיתה וכוס מים? האם את נחרדת מקולות הנפץ של הלחימה מסביבך? מבקש ממך, ילדה שלי, להישאר אופטימית> pic.twitter.com/hqCUnwsejj— Raz Shechnik (@RazShechnik) January 3, 2025
Nearly a week after being released from Hamas captivity, Arbel Yehud was discharged from Sheba Hospital last Wednesday and has relocated to live with the Kibbutz Nir Oz community in the Carmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat.
Arbel Yehud, 29, is a third-generation member of Kibbutz Nir Oz. She was kidnapped from her home along with her partner, Ariel Kunio, also a kibbutz member. Ariel’s brother, David Kunio, was also abducted.
About six years ago, Arbel returned to live in the kibbutz. Before October 7, she and Ariel had just come back from a carefully planned and long-awaited trip to South America. Upon their return to Israel, they adopted a puppy, and Arbel began working as a space exploration and astronomy instructor at the Groove Tech complex in the Eshkol Regional Council.
