Holocaust survivors issued a statement to the media at the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv after meeting with families of hostages and former captives. Holocaust survivor Naftali First said: "I wish you to stay strong, without hope we would not have survived what we survived. I hope your children will be released, that the government will get some sense, some heart and some Judaism and the hostages will be released today." Aryeh Pinsker, who survived Auschwitz, declared: "I didn't think we would reach such a state of abandonment, and I don't know if it's intentional. I hope this will end differently, that we will once again become a united nation with sane leadership."