What Matters Now to Jonathan Dekel-Chen: US feels like the hostages' only beacon

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with arts and culture editor Jessica Steinberg hosting and speaking with Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen.

Dekel-Chen, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was a vocal and visible hostage parent throughout the months of his son's captivity. Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken hostage on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, while his pregnant wife and two young daughters were hiding in their safe room.

He talks about the relief that he and the family felt upon seeing Sagui released home to Israel, the challenges that Sagui and the rest of the family and Nir Oz community still face, and the sense of rebirth that Sagui feels post-captivity.

For 496 days, Sagui didn't know if his own family had survived, as well as extended members of his family and friends.

Dekel-Chen also reflects on the sense of abandonment felt by many hostage families from the Israeli government throughout the months of the war, and particularly now, as the army has returned to fighting in Gaza, leaving 59 hostages still in captivity.

He speaks about the tremendous support he and the other hostage families received from the US government, from both the Biden and Trump administrations and his surprise that American Jewish organizations didn't join together to support the hostage families.

And so this week, we ask history professor Jonathan Dekel-Chen, what matters now?

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen with his father Jonathan aboard an IDF helicopter en route to the hospital soon after his release from 498 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 15, 2025 (IDF)

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