The story of Edan Alexander: from New Jersey to Israel's front lines

Edan Alexander was born in Israel, but just two months after his birth, the Alexander family chose to move to the United States. When he reached the age of enlistment, Idan made an unconventional decision for a boy who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and enlisted in the IDF.

He chose to serve in Golani and was stationed at the Kisufim outpost on the Gaza border. During the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, on the festival of Simchat Torah (October 7), his mother Yael was in Israel, having come for a visit to celebrate the holiday with him.

In April, Hamas released a video message from Edan: "I'm broken. Tell me - why am I not at home? Why? It seems that we are unwanted, we have been abandoned here, I am collapsing because of this disgusting world and the disgusting government of Israel."

Edan added in the video that "every day I see how Netanyahu rules the country like a dictator. I am collapsing physically and mentally. I heard that three weeks ago Hamas was ready to release me, but you refused and left me here. Tell me why I am here and not at home with my friends and family, why am I filming this second video. Everyone has lied to me - my people, my government, the American government, the army, and everyone. I really want to believe that I will return home safe and sound to celebrate my birthday and the holidays."

Alexander also addressed the President of the United States and said: "Trump - I believed you would succeed in freeing me from here alive, why did you fall victim to Netanyahu's lies? Why am I still here? I suffer from nightmares at night. Every day I hear my mother's voice, my father's voice, and my brother's voice. Every day I see the protests of Israeli citizens, they are doing everything they can - and the whole world is not listening."

In an interview with Walla, the grandmother of Edan Alexandar, Verda Ben Baruch, spoke about how during the holiday of Simchat Torah, Idan's mother, Yael, was in Israel. She came to visit in order to spend the holiday of Sukkot with him. "She was with us here during the holiday and it was so beautiful and good, but on Tuesday he had to return to the outpost at the Gaza border. He told his mother 'if I don't go, someone else will stay there.' He was so considerate and returned to base, even though his mother begged the commanders to keep him because she came especially," Verda said.

For five days, they received no sign or video showing Edan, until they saw a video that showed Alexandar being taken from the watchtower. The family identified that it was indeed him and the IDF confirmed it. Verda recounts: "We saw that he was taken alive and well and he walked on his own. That's how we want to see him back."