In the heart of Jerusalem, outside the gates of the Prime Minister’s official residence on Gaza Street 35, an anguished moment unfolded last night. Anat Angrest, the mother of 22-year-old hostage soldier Matan Angrest, sent a brief yet searing WhatsApp message to Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In just a few lines, she implored her to respond “mother to mother” about her son, who has been held in Gaza for more than 700 days.
The WhatsApp message
In her message, Anat wrote:
“Hi Sara, this is Anat, mother of Matan Angrest, the wounded soldier who has been in captivity for 712 days. I am here, just below your home, and may stay the night in the street. As a mother to a mother – come down to me. Show humanity. I want to tell you about my Matan and about the 48 hostages still in captivity. I believe you have influence over your husband that could help bring our loved ones home. I am here. Waiting for your reply.”
Families’ protest outside the residence
Anat Angrest is not alone. She has joined other hostage families who have camped outside the Prime Minister’s residence – some with sleeping bags – in a continuous protest over the stalled negotiations for the release of their relatives. Their persistent presence, across from the lit windows of the residence, has turned Gaza Street into a symbol of unrelenting grief and defiance.
(Half-Alive in Gaza: Jerusalem’s Rom Breslavski Forgotten)
The story of Matan Angrest
Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old from Kiryat Bialik, enlisted in August 2021 and served as a driver in a Merkava Mark IV tank. On 7 October 2023, during the Hamas assault on the Nahal Oz post, he was gravely wounded and abducted into Gaza.
Since then, he has endured burns, facial fractures, paralysis in his right arm, and reports of prolonged isolation in a dark cell. According to testimonies, he was denied medical treatment and at one point required resuscitation. His continued captivity embodies both the personal tragedy of one family and the wider crisis facing Israel.
Jerusalem as a national stage
The struggle over Matan’s fate is not confined to private anguish. Jerusalem itself has become a national stage of protest, where parents sleep on pavements outside centers of power to remind the country that their children remain in Gaza. The pavement at 35 Gaza Street has become a charged site of civic pain, moral appeal, and Israeli politics laid bare.
The direct appeal to Sara Netanyahu blurs the line between the intimate and the political: a mother’s plea for her son crossing into the arena of public protest. One question lingers above the security gates – will this cry lead to change, or will it remain another heartbreaking message on a cellphone screen?
