In Times Square, AJC Calls for Hostages’ Return

With 11 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, American Jewish Committee (AJC) this weekend unveiled a new public call to bring them home in New York's iconic Times Square, at the northeast corner of Broadway and West 43rd. The video billboard, featuring hostages Itay Chen, Meny Godard, Hadar Goldin, Ran Gvili, Asaf Hamami, Joshua Loitu Mollel, Omer Neutra, Dror Or, Oz Daniel, Lior Rudaeff, and Sudthisak Rinthalak reminds the world that more than two years since Hamas's October 7, 2023 massacre, the terror group is still holding hostages in Gaza in defiance of the terms agreed to as part of the first phase of President Trump's 20-point peace plan. Two of the remaining hostages, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, are American citizens with ties to New York. Itay, whose dad Ruby was born in New York, grew up visiting family on Long Island, and Omer, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, was born in Manhattan just after the September 11, 2001, terror attack and is a graduate of the Schechter School of Long Island.

"Eleven hostages remain in Gaza, and their families continue to live with unimaginable pain as they are unable to lay their loved ones to rest," said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. "Times Square is an American icon, a place that should be associated with fun and frivolity and the New Years Eve ball drop. But today we use this megaphone to call for the return of hostages, including two Americans, so their families can finally have closure. AJC will continue amplifying their voices until every last hostage is home."

Since Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, AJC has been advocating side-by-side with more than 50 hostage families-during their visits to the United States and Europe-to keep their stories front of mind for officials at the highest levels of leadership across society, including with more than 200 members of Congress, multiple national media outlets, the U.S. State Department, major U.S. administration officials, high-ranking diplomats, faith leaders, and others.

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC's mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org .

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