We saw his photograph everywhere. We watched the demonstrations. We followed every rumor of negotiations, every hopeful report and every subsequent disappointment.<\/p>\n
We prayed for him in our synagogues, attended rallies, and signed petitions. His name became familiar to people who had never met him and probably never would.<\/p>\n
I was living in Britain at the time, and I remember vividly how deeply his captivity affected Jewish communities far beyond Israel\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
![\"Gilad](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/182247.jpeg\"\/)
Gilad Shalit 521 (credit: Courtesy)<\/p>\n
Gilad Schalit was not simply another soldier. He was somebody\u2019s son, somebody\u2019s brother, a young man who should have been enjoying the ordinary experiences of early adulthood.<\/p>\n
Instead, he was being held in isolation, deprived of his freedom, and separated from everyone he loved.<\/p>\n
For five long years, we prayed and hoped he would somehow return.<\/p>\n
And then, suddenly, the extraordinary news came.<\/p>\n
There was an agreement. He was coming home.<\/p>\n
On October 11, 2011, 15 years ago, Israel announced that an agreement had finally been reached to secure Gilad\u2019s release after more than five years of hell on earth. One week later, on October 18, he came home.<\/p>\n
It was a moment of almost indescribable national joy. And perhaps, amid everything that has happened since, we should pause to remember it.<\/p>\n
Of course, the Schalit prisoner exchange has been analyzed, criticized, and debated endlessly.<\/p>\n
Much has been written about the price Israel paid, the prisoners who were released, the precedent it established, and the possible consequences for the horrific events of October 7, 2023<\/a>. These are serious questions, and history has made some of them even more painful.\u00a0<\/p>\n I do not dismiss the argument. But that is not what I want to write about today.<\/p>\n I want to remember something simpler, something profoundly human. I want to remember how it felt when we heard that Gilad was coming home.<\/p>\n I remember the overwhelming relief, happiness, excitement, and, above all, gratitude. After years in which hope had repeatedly been raised and dashed, something truly wonderful was happening.<\/p>\n For a brief moment, it seemed that an entire nation could share in one family\u2019s happiness. The joy was almost overwhelming; we wanted to laugh out loud and greet perfect strangers with a grin and a hug.<\/p>\n When Gilad finally appeared on our television screens on October 18, thin, pale, and visibly affected by his ordeal, the emotion was extraordinary.<\/p>\n Here was the young man whose photograph we had studied for years. Here he was, alive. Here he was, back on Israeli soil.<\/p>\n And then came the images of him reunited with his family.<\/p>\n How could anyone watch without being moved?<\/p>\n We had never met him, yet somehow we felt we knew him. His parents\u2019 relief became our relief. Their happiness became our happiness. The prayers of five years seemed to find their answer in that single embrace.<\/p>\n Of course, even then there were families for whom the release of convicted terrorists brought renewed anguish rather than celebration. Their pain was real and deserves recognition.<\/p>\n Remembering the joy of Gilad\u2019s return does not require us to dismiss their suffering or ignore the difficult decisions involved, far from it.<\/p>\n But surely we can acknowledge that, whatever our views about the agreement, the return of a young man from captivity was itself something worth celebrating. And there are two people whose extraordinary contribution should never be forgotten.<\/p>\n A place for gratitude<\/p>\n Noam and Aviva Schalit, Gilad\u2019s parents, refused to allow their son to disappear from public consciousness.<\/p>\n For five years, they campaigned tirelessly. They attended meetings, confronted politicians, spoke to journalists, and kept their son\u2019s photograph before the eyes of the nation.<\/p>\n Noam, in particular, became the public face of a family\u2019s determination never to give up. He was not a professional campaigner or a politician. He was a father who wanted his son back.<\/p>\n What could be more human about that simple truth?<\/p>\n In 2022, Noam died after a battle with cancer. He was only 68. But he lived to see his son return, embrace him again, and, in 2021, accompany him to his wedding.<\/p>\n What a blessing that was. What a reward for years of anguish and perseverance.<\/p>\n And what of Gilad himself?<\/p>\n Thankfully, after the extraordinary public attention surrounding his captivity and release, he has largely chosen, and achieved, a quieter life.<\/p>\n