Q&A with Israeli hostage Agam Berger’s cousin Ashlex Waxman Bakshi

Article content

On Wednesday afternoon, Bring Them Home Now, a group composed of family members advocating on behalf of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, released new footage showing the atrocities committed that day.

The newly released clip shows Hamas terrorists lining up five Israelis — Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy — against a wall in the Nahal Oz military base in the early morning hours of Oct. 7 and reportedly making disturbing sexualized comments towards them.

Article content

Article content

“Here, these are the girls (who can get pregnant),” one terrorist tells the bloodied and shocked women, according to the group’s translation. “These are the Zionists.” Another says, “You are so beautiful.”

The five female soldiers have been held captive for more than eight months and the families are calling on the Israeli government to negotiate their release as soon as possible.

Ashley Waxman Baksh, a cousin of Berger, spoke to National Post on Wednesday night from Israel to explain the recent development and the family’s ongoing struggle to return their loved one. This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

I just wanted to check in about the release of the video and the efforts that you are making right now.

Yeah, it’s been a difficult day. We do have a special relationship. I’m a beauty influencer and she (Agam Berger) actually grew up, watching all my videos, and I taught her how to put on makeup. So we have a special relationship.

What has family life been like since October 7?

My entire life has been put on hold. I’ve been very, very active, not only in the family forum, but also abroad. I’ve been on numerous delegations, including to the Canadian Parliament, and I met with (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau as well.

Article content

I’ve been just doing a lot of things for the hostages, but not directly for the hostages. Helping to push for sanctions against the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) and different entities and individuals that support Hamas that are functioning in Canada.

I’ve been doing all of that and it’s really difficult. I would say, yes, I’m a family member. But I don’t think there’s anybody today in Israel who is not feeling the same kind of feeling of just frustration. I would say frustration is the biggest thing that we feel. It’s very frustrating.

How did you find your meeting with Trudeau?

Yeah, it’s kind of hard to tell with Trudeau because he’s a really good actor. It is really hard to tell. I mean, I felt in the meeting, I felt like he genuinely cared. I felt like he genuinely, you know, was touched by the personal story.

But then you see the actions and they don’t correlate to the supposed feelings. So it’s really hard to tell with him. I feel like he doesn’t have bad intentions. I just think he’s a weak leader, and he’s trying to appease both sides and, in doing, so he’s actually losing both sides.

Article content

Article content

A few European states announced that they were going to be recognizing Palestine in the coming weeks. What do you think of the international reaction? This seems to be almost a reward in some ways for the attack.

Absolutely, absolutely. I know that there’s talk about it, pushing from the NDPs (New Democratic Party) and in Canada, as well. It’s a very, very, dangerous precedent what happened today. Very dangerous. And, like you said, it’s literally sending the message that, “Okay, any group of people anywhere in the world if you want statehood, just do terrorism and then you’ll get recognized.”

You could say the same about Quebec separatists in Canada. It is literally sending that message. So it’s very, very dangerous.

What type of work have you been involved with lately and have there been any positive updates from the Israeli government?

No, nothing. In terms of the Israeli government, it’s really, really hard for me to answer questions when it comes to the Israeli government because we don’t actually know what’s going on. We’re always really, really, really, really wishing that there’s something behind closed doors that we don’t know. But we don’t actually know what’s going on. I can say that I have a lot of criticism of the Israeli government, as do many Israelis right now. It’s not the way the world sees it, though.

Article content

There’s just been so many, starting from the intelligence that allowed October 7 to happen and then the diplomatic efforts that are not going well and the fact that the IDF wasn’t able to recover more hostages. So there’s a lot of criticism.

But I can say, on the other hand, I am not jealous of my prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) or any of the cabinet members right now because they are literally faced with the hardest dilemmas every single day. It is by far the most difficult job in the world to be the prime minister of Israel: way more difficult than the president of the United States.

It’s very difficult.

People also need to understand that the way things work in the Western world is not the way things work in the Middle East. I think this is what people need to understand if we want to see Israel progress to peace with Saudi (Arabia) and you know more states in the future. In the Middle East, the mentality is if you win the war, we will make peace with you; if you lose, we won’t. That’s the mentality. And in America or in the West, I would say it’s just a very different mentality.

If you actually bow down and try to do diplomacy instead of war, then that gives you more credibility in the Western world. But in the Arab Middle East, it doesn’t work like that. It’s just, it’s very difficult. It’s a very difficult position to be in.

Article content

Article content

What would you say to people who believe the larger war goal of eliminating Hamas has to continue, even at the expense of jeopardizing the hostages?

It’s not only to them. I am conflicted because I’m in the same boat. This is the dilemma that every family has. We understand, on the one hand, we want to do anything in our power to bring our loved ones home. On the other hand, There are certain limitations that the State of Israel just cannot bow down to.

I’m a mother to four children. I know that Hamas needs to be defeated. I will not raise my children on the border with Hamas. I think we just have not yet found that missing piece to the puzzle that will just, I don’t know, make everything fall in place because It doesn’t need to be one or the other. It doesn’t.

I’ll tell you the truth, and I’ll tell you my opinion is that if the world had just let Israel do, without pressuring, without threatening, without the UN (United Nations), without all this, I think we would have finished this war a long time ago and we would have had the hostages out. I think the biggest impediment on bringing back the hostages is the fact that we do not have 100 per cent of international support.

Article content

Why was the video released today?

It was released because we feel like two weeks have passed and there has been no talk. We need things to start moving and there’s also, I can tell you, we see what’s happening in international media. Nobody’s talking about the hostages anymore. Everyone’s only talking about what’s happening in Gaza.

And I can understand it. But it just paints this really, really unbalanced and untrue image that all Israel is doing is attacking Gaza right now when it’s completely removed from the entire big picture of why we are in this war in the first place?

Let’s bring back the conversation to where it needs to be, and it’s the hostages.

What message do you have for Agam?

Article content

I would love for her, if she could know about the dreams that I’ve had about her. I’ve had a few very vivid dreams. The most recent dream that I had was me coming to Gaza. There was a deal, or I don’t even know what it was, but Agam was being released and I came to Gaza to pick her up

When she saw me, I was thinking in my head she’s probably thinking, ‘Ashley, what are you doing here? Where are my parents?’ But she didn’t. She ran to me, she hugged me, and I said to her, “Aren’t you surprised why I’m here?” And she said, “No, I’ve seen everything that you’re doing for me and I’ve seen it all and I love you and thank you.”

I felt like she kind of, in some way maybe, came to me in the dream and said to me, “Keep doing it, keep doing it. I see what you’re doing. Keep doing it. I’m strong. You stay strong. Let’s all just keep working.”

Article content