Several people whose relatives were killed or taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, are running for public office in Tuesday’s elections, the first national vote since the attack, which shook the country’s foundations and ignited its longest war. The October 2023 assault looms large in this week’s vote. There are deep divisions over who is to blame for failing to prevent the worst military, intelligence and political disaster in Israel’s history. Some 1,200 civilians and soldiers were killed that day, according to Israeli authorities, and approximately 250 were taken hostage in Gaza. Many of the relatives of hostages held by Hamas rose to prominence while campaigning for their loved ones in television interviews and at nationwide protests. Most of them called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take responsibility for the government’s failures on October 7 and to prioritize negotiating the release of the hostages over continuing the fighting. Others supported Netanyahu’s right-wing government and urged it to maintain military pressure on Hamas and other enemies of Israel. Parties across Israel’s political spectrum have recruited candidates from what are known as the October 7 families. Here are some of the candidates likely to win a seat in Parliament: Shira Shapiro is running with Yashar, the centrist party led by Netanyahu’s main political rival, Gadi Eisenkot. Ms. Shapiro’s son, Sgt. Aner Shapiro was on leave from the military on October 7 when he attended the Nova music festival, one of the bloodiest targets of the Hamas-led attack. He took refuge in a crowded roadside bomb shelter and stood at the entrance when armed men attacked him. As the militants threw grenades inside, Sergeant Shapiro repeatedly caught the grenades and threw them outside, until he was killed, according to surviving witnesses. Zvi Mor, the father of a freed hostage, Eitan Mor, is running for the far-right Religious Zionism party, headed by Bezalel Smotrich. While Eitan was in captivity, Mr. Mor, an educator, founded a forum of right-wing parents of hostages and soldiers who opposed making deals with Hamas and pushed for Israel to militarily defeat the group. Omri Ronen, a reserve soldier, is running with the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan. Her grandmother, Nira Ronen, was killed in her home in Kfar Aza, one of the border communities hardest hit by the October 2023 attack, along with her Filipino caregiver, Angelyn Aguirre. Before October 7, Ronen had been one of the leaders of a grassroots group of reservists protesting against the government’s plan to reform the judiciary. He said in a recent television interview that Netanyahu, whom he called “Mr. October 7,” must go. “The word responsibility has meaning,” he said. Rafael Ben Shitrit, former mayor of Beit Shean in northern Israel, is in Yisrael Beitenu, a right-wing opposition party led by Avigdor Liberman. Ben Shitrit used to belong to Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party, but left after his son, Sgt. Elroy Ben Shitrit, died in battle on October 7 near the Gaza border. He has been an advocate for an independent state investigation into what went wrong that day. Netanyahu has rejected such an investigation and opposition parties have promised to establish one if elected. Sharon Sharabi, also on Yisrael Beitenu’s candidate list, is the brother of Eli Sharabi, a former hostage who was freed from Gaza only to learn that his wife and two teenage daughters had been killed during the October 7 attack. Another brother, Yossi Sharabi, was also taken hostage and killed after 100 days in captivity. Sharon Sharabi campaigned tirelessly for the return of her brothers. When Eli Sharabi was finally released, many Israelis were outraged by how emaciated he looked. “I was surprised,” Sharon said at the time. “I had been told he would be thin, but I had no idea how thin. It was extreme.” Tali Gvili, who is active in Netanyahu’s Likud party, is the mother of the sergeant major. Ran Gvili, a member of a police counterterrorism unit who was shot and seriously injured in combat on October 7 and later dragged to Gaza. His remains were recovered and returned to Israel in January 2026. The Gvili and Netanyahu families have become close, with the prime minister attending Sergeant Gvili’s state funeral and saying: “Our souls are linked to his.” Michal Hirsch Negri is running with Together, a joint list headed by right-wing politician Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid. Ms. Hirsch Negri’s son, Major Roee Negri, was killed fighting at Kibbutz Be’eri, near the Gaza border, on October 7. Shahar Varon, commander of the reserves, is another Juntos candidate. He fought that day in Kfar Aza, another border community, and then went to fight in Gaza. He was wounded in battle and then returned to Gaza to fight again. “There is life before October 7th and there is life after,” he wrote recently, adding: “Our government disappeared that morning, but in its place appeared our people.”
