Knock on all doors, the most obvious and at the same time the most hostile. Looking for some kind of investigation, no matter how small and predictable, so that they return home dead or alive.. And call again to tell both the most joyful news and at the same time the most terrible. For 35 years this has been the task Ory Slonim, the Israeli lawyer behind secret talks his country held with Hamas and other Palestinian groups to secure the release of dozens of captives. And this continues to be their mission, as Hamas kidnapped more than 200 people in October.

“Actually, knocking on a door has two meanings: one is to knock on all the doors in the world to find out everything about the whereabouts of the kidnapped person. And the other is to call and tell the family that their luck has run out and that their loved one is unwell. Sometimes it’s the opposite news, but In the first case, the punch is very brutal.”, admits Slonim in a conversation with Independent. Slonim is a veteran and an atypical Israeli lawyer: he represents a figure created by the Defense Ministry specifically to secure the return of Israeli soldiers who became prisoners of war during their raids.

Key Experience

His experience has played a vital role in the nightmare that has rocked Israeli society since Hamas militias attacked towns and kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip on October 7 and abducted more than 240 people, including civilians and military personnel. Late this Monday, a few hours before the expiration of the four-day truce agreed by Israel and Hamas (with the release of 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinian prisoners), an extension was brokered by Qatar and Egypt from the parties to the dispute. days, which will allow the release of another 20 hostages.

These were days of sadness and hard work for Slonim, who in the 1980s occupied such a unique position due to his then proximity to Chaim Herzog, former President of Israel and father of the current President. “We were both lawyers and knew each other through our profession. It was he who asked me in 1986 to volunteer for a year to help soldiers’ families and in negotiations. And those twelve months turned into more than 35 years,” he recalls.

Since then, he has solved dozens of captivities. “The first was a Druze prisoner of war who was killed in captivity in 1987. We managed to return his body after talking directly with the terrorist group, without intermediaries,” recalls the lawyer involved in most of the cases that have been brought sporadically since then – Israel in a conflict that has lasted for 75 years and which, increasingly rooted and having more opposing positions are far from being resolved. “Throughout all these years we have negotiated with Hamas, although not directly, but through the mediation of other countries.”

After the release of soldier Shalit and his exchange for 1027 Palestinians

The latest attacks have dusted off a chronology that stopped in 2011 with the exchange of soldiers Gilad Shalit for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. A case that had a happy outcome after more than five years in military uniform in the hands of Hamas and within Gaza.

He was a very strong young man, and if he had been less strong, he would have died.

“Gilad Shalit was a lone soldier. He was kept there for about five years. We know that he was kidnapped alone, no one spoke to him, except at the very beginning, when he was captured,” says Slonim. “And you can imagine yourself in a small room for five years, talking to ants and mice, without any human contact. “He was a very strong young man, and if he had been less strong, he would have died.”

The intermediary admits to maintaining some contact with some of those released, such as Shalit, who today are protected by anonymity. “He recently got married, but I don’t live in the past. I deal with the present and the future. And from time to time I contact his mother to wish her happy holidays. I try to maintain contact with parents, with families, and there are some prisoners of war whose liberation I participated in, with whom we are friends,” he admits, now part of the negotiating team for the liberation, which is still ongoing. “We have hundreds of members, even more. “Each of them shares their experience and knowledge.”

It is current events that he puts as a red line for conversation. “Don’t ask me anything that could jeopardize the ongoing negotiations. I won’t say anything,” he warns in several excerpts of the interview. “There is a government negotiating group headed by Gal Hirsch, who was an army officer and was appointed to lead it. “I am part of a non-governmental organization that brings together the families of hostages,” he emphasizes.

Slonim admits that the parties to the conflict are now faced with an “unprecedented” scenario. “This is the most complex process that has been observed not only in Israel, but throughout the world, because it is a mixture of citizens. They are a mixture of older women over 80 or 85 years old. “It’s a mixture of mothers, babies, motherless babies and young people who just wanted to dance and be happy, but they were kidnapped,” he claims. The involvement of several dozen nationalities also complicates tasks that, from late October until Friday’s truce, were carried out in the midst of a ground invasion and between intense bombing of the sector.

Psychological battles

“I trust my country. Sometimes people kidnapped or held by a hostile party may die as a result of the bombing. And I can tell you that this is not a simple case of people being taken hostage. These are citizens and soldiers who were not armed. “This is a crime against humanity,” denounces the man who, a few years ago, dared to cite some excerpts from these conversations with terrorist organizations and the Mossad as a link to a book reconstructing some of Israel’s most notorious hostage-taking cases. story. .

However, the happiest thing is to see them again at the moment of reunion with their loved ones.

Ori remains silent when asked for details or asked to draw any similarities to past episodes. “This is a very dangerous process because there are many variables and the numbers are big this time,” he warns, preceded by days of vigil. “Psychologically this experience helps. Everyone has their own character, their own emotions. But you need to work on not letting your emotions hurt you,” he admits. “The worst thing is all those mental battles that happen during the process, those days when you go to meet families with nothing to say to them, just hug them.”

“These are very difficult times. However, the happiest thing is to see them again at the moment of reunion with their loved ones,” he adds. There are a few moments that console Slonim and which, after more than a decade of hiatus, he came to terms with on Friday. “I think that all Israeli citizens and I ourselves are waiting for the moment of complete liberation. “This is the happiest moment,” he emphasizes. “But we’ll be all in when they all come back.”