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Top US Holocaust officials: Oct. 7 massacre creates ‘new momentum’ for restitution
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hamas’ massacres on Oct. 7 delivered “new momentum” to the effort to deliver restitution to the descendants of Holocaust survivors and victims whose property was stolen, Stuart Eizenstat, the State Department’s special adviser on Holocaust issues, said Thursday at a meeting with reporters for Jewish publications.
“There’s a new momentum behind Holocaust remembrance, Holocaust restitution, and Holocaust lessons,” he said. “And those who say, you know, it’s just a thing of the past, we’re reminded by what’s happened in the last few weeks that that’s not the case.”
Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, wounded thousands and abducted more than 200, in the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Thursday’s press conference featured Eizentstat; Ellen Germain, the department’s special envoy for Holocaust issues; and Mark Weitzman, COO of the World Jewish Restitution Organization. They spoke the day after a meeting convened by the State Department and the WJRO including representatives of 14 countries seeking to advance restitution to descendants of Holocaust survivors and victims.
The Nazis and their allies and proxies, among others, looted and confiscated hundreds of thousands of pieces of property belonging to Jews during and after World War II. The U.S.-led restitution effort, launched by Eizenstat in the late 1990s, has recovered thousands of pieces, including many valuable works of art. A number of countries including, notably, Poland, have limited the ability to seek restitution and say that Holocaust restitution should not be treated as unique. Rather, they say, it should be addressed in the context of privations others suffered in the war and, afterward, during decades of communist rule.
Countries represented at the meeting Wednesday included Israel, the United States, Britain, Croatia, Germany, Moldova, Romania, France, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Canada and Greece. As part of the recent U.S.-led initiative to advance restitution, five of those countries — the Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany and Austria — have established commissions to examine restitution issues, and Luxembourg has effectively completed its restitution process.
Germain said that those efforts, to pursue justice decades after the thefts and atrocities occurred, makes it clear that the crimes of Oct. 7 will also be addressed — however long it takes.
“Maintaining the values of our liberal democracies, all of that has been thrown into such stark relief with the events of the last few weeks, and that all connects right up with bringing a measure of justice for Holocaust survivors and their families, even after 80 years,” she said. “There is no statute of limitations on trying to bring perpetrators of such a great injustice to account for what they’ve done.”
Eizenstat said that virtually every diplomat and official present at the restitution meeting on Wednesday framed their mission in the context of Oct. 7. “It was a major focus of attention, the number of countries as we went around the table, who spoke about it, who said that this demonstrates that the hatred against Jews and against Israel is not something of the past, was itself very enlightening,” he said.
Eizenstat said Oct. 7 also brought the horrors of the Holocaust home for younger Israelis and Jews. “The number of young people who were involved in these attacks, who said, ‘Now we understand what our parents and grandparents went through’,” he said.”It thrust the Jewish past into the present.”
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The post Top US Holocaust officials: Oct. 7 massacre creates ‘new momentum’ for restitution appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Netanyahu Criticizes Nation-Wide Strike That ‘Strengthens Hamas’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly criticized nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of hostages and an end to the Gaza war.
Speaking at a government meeting, Netanyahu argued that such protests only strengthen Hamas and risk repeating the atrocities of October 7.
“Those who call today for an end to Hamas’s war not only harden the terrorist group’s position and delay the release of our hostages, but also guarantee that the horrors of October 7 will be repeated and that we will have to fight an endless war,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister defended Israel’s ongoing military operations, citing strikes carried out in recent days: “In the last 24 hours, the navy attacked power stations in Yemen, IDF soldiers struck Zeitoun and eliminated dozens of terrorists in Gaza, and the air force targeted Hezbollah commanders and launch sites in Lebanon.”
He added that Israel’s response in Lebanon was consistent with the ceasefire agreement: “According to this agreement, we will meet with fire any violation and any attempt to arm Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s conditions for ending the conflict, stressing the need for continued security control in Gaza and the group’s long-term demilitarization. He rejected Hamas’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal: “They want us to leave Gaza entirely — from the north, the south, the Philadelphi corridor, and the security perimeter. That would only allow them to reorganize, rearm, and attack us again.”
The war has now entered its 681st day, with 49 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined a general strike organized by the Hostage Families Forum, calling for the return of all captives in a single deal and for an end to the war. Demonstrations spread across the country, at major intersections, government ministers’ homes, and familiar protest hubs such as Kaplan Junction and the Ayalon highways.
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Family Releases Footage of Matan Zangauker in Captivity
A screenshot of a video released by the family of hostage Matan Zangauker.
i24 News – The family of Matan Zangauker, the Israeli hostage held by Hamas since October 7, shared new footage of him from captivity on Sunday evening.
The video, obtained by the IDF, was recorded several months ago.
In the recording, 32-year-old Matan looks directly into the camera, addressing his loved ones: “Tato, Shani, Ilana, I miss you. God willing, we’ll see each other soon. All my friends and acquaintances, go out and make noise like only you know how.”
Matan was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his partner Ilana Gritsievsky, who was released in a hostage deal last year. Since then, Matan has remained in Hamas custody while his family continues to fight for his return.
On the national protest day calling for the release of hostages, Ilana staged a poignant display at Hostages Square. Dressed in a wedding gown beneath a chuppah, she symbolically “married” Matan in his absence. “Matan, my curly-haired one, if you hadn’t been abducted, we could already be married. In a single day, our world was destroyed, and you’re not here to hold me. I’m fighting for you until you come back,” she said.
Matan’s mother, Einav, has emerged as a leading voice in the campaign for the hostages’ release and has sharply criticized Israel’s political leadership, accusing them of undermining potential hostage deals.
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Hamas Rejects Israel’s Gaza Relocation Plan
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel’s plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a “new wave of genocide and displacement” for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel into southern Gaza was a “blatant deception.”
The Israeli military has said it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of its plan to relocate residents from combat zones to the south of the enclave “to ensure their safety.”
Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of tents under the guise of humanitarian purposes is a blatant deception intended to “cover up a brutal crime that the occupation forces prepare to execute.”
Israel said earlier this month that it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center. The plan has raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, which is home to about 2.2 million people.