By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2025-01-07 15:05:06 | Updated at 2025-01-08 13:52:39
23 hours ago
The ceremony was organized in honor of advocates who defended, and continue to defend Israel, during the Israel-Hamas War and featured honorees from Israel and abroad.
By ERIC LENEFSKY JANUARY 7, 2025 16:52
Activist Lizzy Savetsky at the End Jew Hatred protest at CUNY. September 12th, 2023.
(photo credit: #EndJewHatred)
Social Media Influencer Lizzy Savetsky and Honest Reporting executive director Gil Hoffman were among the 50 awardees at the Knesset’s “Voices of Iron Ceremony,” on Tuesday, hosted by Likud MK Dan Illouz.
The ceremony, organized in honor of advocates who defended, and continue to defend Israel, during the Israel-Hamas War featured honorees from Israel and abroad, and was attended by members of the coalition and opposition, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
Ohana opened the ceremony by praising and thanking “the online dream team and our enemies’ ultimate nightmare” for their efforts on the country’s eighth front: global antisemitism.
He was followed by Illouz who emphasized the broad spectrum of Israel advocates in the room.
“Supporting Israel is not about left or right. It’s not about political ideology. It’s about truth. It’s about justice; it’s about the fundamental right of a nation to defend its people against slaughter,” Illouz said. “What unites us is not politics but principle: the unwavering belief that terror must never be rewarded, evil must never be justified, and Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people will never be alone.”
Opposition MK Shelly Tal Meron then expressed her gratitude to the the civilians who support the Jewish state “from the bottom of your hearts,” telling them “We need you.”
In Israel on October 7
In a panel discussion with other pro-Israel stalwarts, Savetsky shared that she was on vacation with her family in Israel on October 7, when she woke up to the sirens. She had already advocated for Israel beforehand, but as she sat in the bomb shelter she turned to her husband and said “I’m going to be really busy.”
She explained that wasn’t surprised by the social media response and knew she had to do more.
“I never, in a million years, thought that this is what I would be doing with my life… but I really just felt this urgent need and sacred responsibility to my ancestors and to my children.”
When asked what her goal is, she said she wants people to have one-on-one conversations in the real world and hopes her content helps to have the facts simply broken down when they go into these conversations.
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Savetsky encouraged everyone “Don’t fear what you may lose, because it’s not worth it. If you have to fear losing something in order to stand up for your values, then what was the point of having it in the first place?”
Gil Hoffman, HonestReporting’s executive director and former chief political correspondent at The Jerusalem Post told the Post “It’s very important that the Knesset is recognizing the accomplishments of those who fought for Israel on the digital battlefield. I’m proud that HonestReporting is being honored because the team has been in the trenches this entire war, fighting against the biased coverage of Israel in the international media.
“Winning on the media battlefield is the key to winning on the military battlefield and that has been proven time and time again in this war. Unfortunately, this war needed time to achieve its military accomplishments, and if it wasn’t for the work that organizations like HonestReporting and others being honored here today, there’s no way there would have been the international legitimacy required to give the time to accomplish what needed to be done.”
Illouz told the Post that the goal of the ceremony was to show that “Here, in Israel, there are people who recognize this [their battles and sacrifice], and we as the Knesset - coalition and opposition - recognize their important contributions and want to say ‘thank you.’”
