Liz Hirsh Naftali on her campaign to bring Abigail home

Hearts around the world hoped and prayed that three-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Mor Edan who witnessed the murder of her parents on October 7 and was taken captive to Gaza by Hamas, would survive and come home. She finally did 51 days later as part of a hostage release deal.

The campaign to bring her home was led in part by her American great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali, who was recently in Australia to speak about her book Saving Abigail: The True Story of the Abduction and Rescue of a Three-Year-Old Hostage, which details the advocacy to free Abigail and to call for release of all Israeli hostages.

Hirsh Naftali shared her story at an event hosted by Jewish National Fund Victoria and Caulfield Shule on May 21. “I went to Washington DC every week. I didn’t sleep, I barely ate, I didn’t drink, I didn’t have the life that I had before,” she said. “We had incredible support from President Biden and his administration … There were 12 Americans who were kidnapped on October 7, [over] 46 that were murdered … we as American families were meeting monthly with people like Brett McGurk, who was our special envoy, with Tony Blinken, our secretary of state, with national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, I mean … top level of the US government and we were meeting with them on a monthly basis … we were also able to be in touch with them anytime we needed them.”

Abigail was released on November 26, 2023. She now lives with her aunt and uncle Liron and Zoli and their three children, along with Abigail’s brother Michael and sister Amalia, who survived October 7 by hiding in a cupboard for over 12 hours.

Discussing her book Hirsh Naftali said, “It’s a book about resilience because if this little three-year-old could experience and be in her father’s arms as he was murdered and then crawl out and find safety, and then find herself 51 days silenced, starving and still come out and look at life and find joy and be a little girl, we all can do that … if this child had that resilience and that strength, we need our leaders to have that resilience and strength.