Zionist Federation of Australia

Zionist Federation of Australia The roof body for Zionist programs in Australia

As a representative roof body of the Australian Jewish community, the ZFA is committed to advocating for the State of Israel on behalf of the Jewish community in Australia, and fostering a deep connection between Australia and Israel.

Three years ago today, 19-year-old Roei Peri z”l was stationed at the Pega outpost near the Gaza border.As terrorists at...
07/10/2026

Three years ago today, 19-year-old Roei Peri z”l was stationed at the Pega outpost near the Gaza border.

As terrorists attacked, Roei and his unit fought under heavy gunfire. When his commander, Captain Dekel Swissa z”l, told the soldiers to return to the shelter while he stayed behind to provide cover, Roei volunteered to stay with him.

Roei and Dekel continued fighting. Both were killed defending the outpost.

Roei was described by those who knew him as a loyal friend. On 7 October, that loyalty stayed with him until the very end.

Today, we say Roei’s name out loud, and we dedicate this post to him and to all the soldiers, police officers and members of Israel’s security and emergency services who were killed protecting the people of Israel on 7 October.

Three years later, we remember their courage, their sacrifice and their names.

May their memories always be a blessing 💔

יהי זכרם ברוך 🕯️

Three years later, look at this photo.Look at it closely.On 15 October 2023, it appeared on the front page of Melbourne’...
07/10/2026

Three years later, look at this photo.

Look at it closely.

On 15 October 2023, it appeared on the front page of Melbourne’s Herald Sun. For a long time, we wondered who these two little Israeli children were, pictured in a Hamas propaganda video from 7 October. They were not hostages as far as we knew. They were not listed among those murdered either.

Their names are Negev and Eshel.

Negev was four years old. Eshel was just a baby.

That morning, their mother, Adi, fought to protect them as terrorists attacked their home. She shielded baby Eshel when they tried to shoot him. She texted her husband and warned him not to come home, saving his life too.

Then Adi was murdered.

Her children were taken towards Gaza. Negev was injured. And somewhere along the way, Hamas stopped to film them.

That part matters.

For every attempt to portray what Hamas did on 7 October as “resistance”, look again at this photograph.

A Hamas terrorist holding two Israeli children after one had been injured, their mother had been murdered and they were being kidnapped towards Gaza.

And Hamas filmed it themselves.

Negev and Eshel would eventually make it back to Israel, thanks to the extraordinary courage of their neighbour Avital Alajem, who cared for them and, when the terrorists inexplicably released the three of them, carried the children for hours towards safety.

Three years later, we remember Negev and Eshel.

We remember Avital’s courage.

And we remember Adi, the mother who fought for her children until the end and whose final actions saved her family.

We will never forget her bravery.

And we will never forget the cruelty she was protecting her children from.

יהי זכרה ברוך

Three years ago today, this photograph captured one of the final moments of Kineret G*t z”l’s life.The date sits in the ...
07/10/2026

Three years ago today, this photograph captured one of the final moments of Kineret G*t z”l’s life.

The date sits in the corner: 10-07-2023.

By the time this image was taken, Hamas terrorists had overrun Kibbutz Be’eri. They were murdering, kidnapping and burning their way through the community.

And there stood Kineret, 69 years old.

Facing the armed terrorists who would soon murder her, she stuck out her tongue at them.

It is chilling, defiant and a vision we have been unable to shake since we first saw it.

Around an hour later, Kineret was murdered. We don’t know what she endured between this photograph and her death.

Her daughter, Carmel G*t z”l, was kidnapped from Be’eri that same morning. Carmel survived 329 days in Hamas captivity before she was murdered alongside five other hostages: Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l, Eden Yerushalmi z”l, Ori Danino z”l, Almog Sarusi z”l and Alexander Lobanov z”l.

Kineret was later reburied beside her beloved daughter.

Three years after 7 October, there are images we still cannot shake. Stories we refuse to allow the world to forget.

This is one of them.

Kineret G*t z”l. Carmel G*t z”l.

We will never forget them.

יהי זכרן ברוך

“Are you with Israel?”On 7 October, six-year-old Romi Swissa asked those words from inside a car in Sderot.Her parents, ...
06/10/2026

“Are you with Israel?”

On 7 October, six-year-old Romi Swissa asked those words from inside a car in Sderot.

Her parents, Dolev and Odaya, had been murdered. Amer Abu Sabila, a Bedouin Israeli who stopped to help Odaya and her daughters and tried to drive them to safety, had also been killed.

Romi was left alone with her three-year-old sister, Lia. When Israeli police officers finally reached the car, terrified and unsure who she could trust, Romi asked: “Are you with Israel?”

Three years later, in very different circumstances, CBS asked Flydubai passenger Tal Samuel whether, in the chaos following the attempted hijacking, everyone on board was a suspect.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “Unless you speak Hebrew.”

Two very different moments. The same instinct: Who can I trust?

In our darkest moments, we look for each other. We protect each other. We rely on each other.

עם ישראל חי ❤️‍🩹🇮🇱

Three years on from the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October, the images of that day remain seared into our consciousness. Fam...
06/10/2026

Three years on from the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October, the images of that day remain seared into our consciousness. Families murdered in their homes. Young people hunted down at a music festival. Women subjected to sexual violence. Men, women, children and the elderly dragged into the dungeons of Gaza as hostages.

We remember those who were taken from us. We remember the hostages and their families, the survivors who returned home carrying wounds that will remain with them for a lifetime, and all those whose lives are now divided into a before and an after.

The war that followed has exacted a terrible human cost. Israelis have endured bereavement, displacement and war on multiple fronts. Innocent Palestinians have also suffered enormously.

These past three years have demanded moral clarity. There is a fundamental difference between a democratic society defending its citizens and a terrorist organisation that murders civilians, takes hostages and openly seeks Israel’s destruction.

Over these years, Australian Jews have stood with the people of Israel. We have stood with the families who lost loved ones, with the hostages and their families, with the soldiers, reservists, and their families who have borne the extraordinary burden of defending Israel through years of war.

(Continued in pinned comment)

06/10/2026

6:28am, 7 October 2023

The final moment before our lives changed forever 💔

The Zionist Federation of Australia has condemned plans to hold a so-called “Vigil for Gaza” in Melbourne on 7 October, ...
06/10/2026

The Zionist Federation of Australia has condemned plans to hold a so-called “Vigil for Gaza” in Melbourne on 7 October, saying the event seeks to erase the Hamas atrocities that occurred on that date.

ZFA President Jeremy Leibler said:

“October 7 is a day of mourning for the more than 1,200 innocent people murdered when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, massacring families in their homes, hunting down young people at a music festival, committing horrific sexual violence and dragging men, women, children and the elderly into Gaza as hostages.

“The organisers have published a lengthy statement about why they have chosen October 7. Not once do they mention Hamas. Not once do they mention terrorism, murder, r**e or torture. Instead, they present October 7 as the day Israel attacked Gaza.

“That is not commemoration. It is an attempt to erase what happened on October 7 and strip Israel’s response of the context of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“There is nothing wrong with mourning innocent Palestinian lives. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. But there are 364 other days of the year on which to do that.

“For Australian Jews, October 7 is the day we remember those who were murdered, r**ed, tortured and kidnapped, and draw close to those who still carry the wounds of that atrocity.

“Surely, even after everything that has happened over the past three years, some things should remain sacred.

“Terror and antisemitism will not define Jewish life in Australia. We will continue to live proudly and openly as Jews, and nothing these groups do will weaken the bond between Australian Jewry, Australia and Israel.”

05/10/2026

ZFA President Jeremy Leibler spoke earlier to Tom Elliott on 3AW Melbourne (Tom Elliott) about the planned anti-Israel protests on 7 October and how deeply confronting it is while our community is mourning.

05/10/2026

Avinatan Or spent 738 days completely alone in Hamas captivity.

Speaking to Uvda, he explained why he supported his parents’ stance against a hostage deal at any price, even if it meant he would remain in captivity.

“I knew that if we made a deal now, I’d get out of here. But in two or three days, a month, two months, a year, two years, ten years, someone else would be sitting here in my place.”

For Avinatan, it was never only about getting himself home.

“Hamas isn’t finished.”

📹 עובדה עם אילנה דיין
Subtitles: ZFA

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