IDF Manpower Directorate head recounts former hostage's story of abuse in Gaza at memorial event

Bar Kalifa, who fought in the Gaza Strip as commander of the 36th Division following the October 7 attacks, addressed the soldiers at the Southern Command event.

IDF Personnel Directorate head Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa recounted former hostage Avinatan Or's testimony of how a three-year-old boy was instructed to spit on him by a Hamas terrorist during his captivity in Gaza, speaking before thousands of soldiers at a battle heritage and fallen soldiers' memorial event in the Negev on Tuesday.

Bar Kalifa, who fought in the Gaza Strip as commander of the 36th Division following the October 7 attacks, addressed the soldiers at the Southern Command event.

"I wasn't going to miss this opportunity to speak to you here at Southern Command, fighters, commanders, female and male soldiers. I feel it is a great privilege to be here with you and to tell you that we must not give up, and that we must make sure that what happened will never happen again," he said.

He added that he feared the memory of October 7 would fade.

"I'm afraid we'll forget what happened, that we'll forget that perhaps we are a complicated people. We are not an easy people, but we are a people of heroes, a wonderful people. I'm afraid we'll be overwhelmed by the fractures, that we'll grow weary of learning, and that we won't understand that they are part of who we are, part of what we are building."

October 7 not just another day on the calendar, Bar Kalifa says

Bar Kalifa went on to speak about October 7, saying it was not just another day on the calendar.

"It is a long, momentous journey between devastation and hope, between defeat and rebirth," he said.

He then introduced the participants in the event's panel discussion.

Among them was Avinatan Or, "who returned from Hamas captivity after more than 700 days," and Roy Benjamin Roko, "a company commander who rushed from his home into the terrible inferno, a true hero."

He also introduced Mazi Ayalon, the widow of a community security coordinator who fought heroically, "and who is herself now safeguarding our recovery," and Rabbi Shmuel Slotki, "whose two wonderful sons sought out the enemy on October 7 and fought to their last drop of blood."

"I want to tell you what I learned from this incredible encounter with these people," the Personnel Directorate chief said.

"I learned one small story from Avinatan Or. What is the difference between us and those on the other side of the fence? Those who came here to murder us on October 7? Where does the difference begin? Probably in kindergarten."

Bar Kalifa then described what Or had told him about the moments before his girlfriend was abducted.

According to Bar Kalifa, Or said his captors beat him over the head with a club and rocks.

"He was covered in blood, his undershirt was soaked, and blood had congealed with mud on his face. He had just arrived inside the Strip, spending a few brief minutes above ground before descending into the dark tunnels for two years."

Bar Kalifa said Or had been certain he was about to be lynched, particularly when a terrorist entered carrying a large kitchen knife.

Palestinian child pushed into spitting on Israel hostage

Or believed that was the moment he would be killed.

"This vile, cursed, despicable terrorist picks up a three-year-old child and brings him up to face level, lifting him by the waist, and tells him, 'Spit on him.' And the child spits, too weakly for the liking of those around him.

"They tell him, 'Spit again.' And the child spits, and this time he enthusiastically improves his performance. Everyone around him applauds and tells him, 'Good boy, good boy.'"

"These are the people we fought against," Bar Kalifa concluded. "These are the people we will not return until we have destroyed them all. This is how a generation of murderers is educated and raised."