With Israel facing worldwide criticism and scrutiny over its war against Hamas following the terror group’s massacre on October 7, 2023, many within the country and across the world have taken part in advocating for Israel's actions and its right to defend itself on the international stage.
One of the most surprising speakers for Israel is 9-year-old Ben Carasso of Tel Aviv, a third-generation to Holocaust survivors, who decided to embark on a mission to be the voice of Israeli children during the war.
Ben Carasso the 'spokeskid' of Israel
(Video: Yaron Brener)
Speaking with Ynetnews, he explained the motivation behind his fight for Israel all over the world: “Children got hurt in this war. If they were scared of the alarms, if they were kidnapped, if they were evacuated from their homes. I felt that the world needs to hear the children's voices, because if we can't do nothing about it, at least let us speak about it."
Ben also discussed his initial steps into advocacy for the country. “I saw how important it was from October 7. There are no words to describe what happened here. I saw how important it is. So I started really from the start." When asked about when he began studying English, Ben replied, "I learned from the age of three."
He also discussed why he decided to involve advocacy in his daily life alongside his days in school and activities as a regular child in Israel. “I'm advocating because it’s important. And sometimes I do it with my friends, like every regular child. My family supports me and so do my friends. But I'm just a regular child that wants the world to hear what they feel," he told Ynetnews.
When asked where his advocacy efforts took him around the world, he answered: "I was in London for poster hangings. I was in schools, universities and media outlets. I did almost everything I could to release the hostages and now I’m so happy to see we have hostages back."
Ben also talked about his connection with released hostage Romi Gonen: “I have two friends whose family members were kidnapped, one is Romi Gonen who’s a cousin of my friend Mika. And another one, Hanan Yablonka, who was kidnapped and murdered. I went to his funeral. He's the father of my best friend from kindergarten. I also have a friend that's evacuated from their home.”
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When asked about facing challenges during his advocacy abroad, Ben said that "sometimes they just won't want to hear me. But I think one situation is that they don't understand that we're not committing genocide and we just want to help the Palestinians."
He added that he tries to face negative comments head-on. "If there are negative reactions, I know I said something good because they don't want the world to hear the truth."
Ben shared about his role models working to defend Israel around the world. "I think whoever is doing advocacy and helping Israel is really instrumental," he said. " I'm so happy that we have other people like Hayley Ace. She's a Christian and she's helping us. There are many more out there and I'm so happy we have them and every single spokesperson that helps Israel.”
When asked about his ambitions for the future, Ben said: "I really don't know, but advocacy will always be a part of my life."