What I saw in Israel was inspiring, despite the horrorscape left by Hamas

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The presence of absence is a powerful thing, and in Israel today it is the coin of the realm. The hostages, including Americans, sit captive in the tunnels of Gaza, enduring a pain we scarcely fathom. They were stolen on October 7. But in the Jewish homeland, the one place where Jews are supposed to feel safe, it is still October 7. That sunset has not fallen.

This is something that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats don’t seem to understand. If he has harsh words for terrorist Hamas holding hostages, including Americans, they are quiet, next to his criticism of Israel and his unprecedented call for regime change. But honestly, Israelis are not interested in America’s domestic politics, though America’s domestic politics are interested in them.

At a kibbutz, not a half mile from the Gaza border, I walked into the house of two shockingly beautiful 23-year-olds murdered by Hamas. The dishes were still drying by the sink, and the pockmarks of bullets painted a palpable terror. I like to think that they died in each other's arms. Crazy kids, like I was then, except I wasn’t helpless in the face of inhumanity.

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I don’t know how to handle what I saw, as the husband of the only family who has moved back since the attack walked me through the horrorscape. It's a beautiful little village of winding paths and lemon trees, the primary colors of fruit dotting the green of its background.

Not far is the big city.

In Tel Aviv, I met Gill. His cousin is still held by Hamas. He is an eloquent advocate, but in his eyes, on his face, was the kind of remembered and still lived terror that