“All that I care about is that they return the hostages and bring my daughter home,” said Eli Albag.
The father of a female soldier kidnapped on October 7th and held by Hamas for more than seven months clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of Tel Aviv University, whom he said were unwilling to engage in dialogue with him.
Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri is currently being held captive in the Gaza Strip, joined a number of counter-demonstrators at the school on Tuesday.
“Jewish and Arab students were protesting against the ‘killing’ of the Palestinians in Gaza,” Albag told Hebrew-language outlet Ma’ariv.
“As a father whose daughter was kidnapped, I was interested to hear what they had to say. I stood by them quietly and did not open my mouth, but within seconds one of the students came, attacked me, and said to me ‘Who are you, you have nothing to do here, get out of here’.”
Albag said that he was not intimidated by the aggressive protester.
“I didn’t keep silent and told him that he had no right to tell me to get out of here, and that I came to talk about my kidnapped daughter – while they were talking about Palestinians being killed in Gaza,” he said.
“It’s unbelievable how disconnected they are from the reality. All that I care about is that they return the hostages and bring my daughter home.”
Also on Tuesday, Muslim students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem held a large protest against the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Strip.
Numerous students chanted “in spirit, and in blood, we will redeem you Al-Aqsa [Mosque],” an Islamist slogan often used by terror groups, while waving Palestinian flags and donning keffiyehs.
The protests were swiftly condemned by Israeli lawmakers, including Yisrael Beitenu party head Avigdor Liberman.
“It is inconceivable that the Hebrew University allows a disgraceful demonstration of terror supporters, waving Palestinian flags in the heart of the university campus while our heroic soldiers are fighting on the battlefield,” Liberman said in a statement.
“I call on the university heads to immediately suspend all the protesters, and if they choose not to take action against them, we will take all the steps available to us in the Knesset to delay all their budgets.”