He once had a name. A face. A smile
Now, there’s only a gaze
Rom Breslavski, 22 years old, from Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem, was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, after trying to save others
Since then – he vanished
Now, with the release of a new video by Islamic Jihad, the picture becomes clearer – and unbearably hard to watch
According to his captors, the video was recorded on July 20
In it, Rom lies motionless, his body emaciated, his face hollow, his skin pale, and his eyes – gone
In one silent frame, you see everything the world refused to see
there is barely a person left
His family asked that the video not be published in Israel
Not because they want silence – but because the image is too much to bear
Rom appears like a version of the living dead – not quite alive, not yet dead
He lies within a pit without bottom, in captivity that everyone seems to have forgotten: the enemies, his own people, and humanity as a whole
Rom is not alone. But he is not with us
After releasing the video, Islamic Jihad claimed it had lost contact with his guards
They do not know if he is alive or dead
The same group that kidnapped him now shrugs responsibility
And on the Israeli side
Politicians are busy with war and survival
The public moves on – summer, vacations, distractions
And the Breslavski family, like so many others, remains alone in the abyss
His mother, Tami Breslavski, knows it
What can she possibly do against a world like this – against humanity like this
Is this the war Israel wants to be remembered for
One man – one fate
And now, another question arises
Could it be that one man – the President of the United States, Donald Trump – is the only person who could break this deadlock
Not out of compassion. Not out of sentiment
But because he knows how to sense the stories that shake the world
Trump is not afraid of disruption. He understands image. He spots moments
And Rom Breslavski’s story – is one such moment
A moment where the fate of one life can be reversed
A moment where history remembers who stepped forward when others stepped away
And if you were Rom
If you were Rom Breslavski – lying on a foreign floor, starving, trembling, silent – would you still believe someone would come for you
And if you’re not Rom – what do you do when he looks straight at you from the screen, with no voice, only eyes
Do you scroll past? Get used to it? Turn away
(From Al-Aqsa Clashes to a Hospital Bed in Jerusalem)
His face – before and after – is the mirror of our generation.
It paints our reflection when the lights go out.
And those who keep walking, saying “nothing can be done” – maybe nothing should.
Because what Rom is going through is not just a tragedy.
It is formal evidence that the world has become too indifferent to be moral.
And maybe – just maybe – one man, far away, a president named Trump, will pick up the phone and make sure Rom comes home
