Every nation in the world has a collective memory shaped by the events it has faced throughout its history. These experiences create its character and affect its actions as well as its strategies. For some, these events could be tragic and traumatic. Such is the case of October 7 for Israel and all Jewish communities around the world.

On that horrific day thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel by surprise and launched a brutal terrorist campaign, assassinating anyone in their path, sexually assaulting women and kidnapping many Israelis from their beds, both Jews and Arabs alike.

That day the State of Israel realised it needed to take action in order to protect itself and its people. We did not want war. In fact, we have always looked forward to living in peace, but we were left with no other choice but to defend ourselves from these groups for which the main objective is to destroy our home.

For many years we have seen and warned everyone that Iran is supporting its proxies close to the borders of Israel with arms, logistics, and financial resources. However, all this time we did not receive the needed help from the international community. We tried to intercept these organisations but, unfortunately, they became bigger and stronger day by day.

While the international community was criticising us in what was called a “blockade” in Gaza, Hamas built an army with more than 40,000 fighters, tens of thousands of missiles, and hundreds of kilometres of tunnels. Hamas, as we know, is a radical organisation with an extreme ideology that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel in its charter. Additionally, Hezbollah became a strong army with more than 100,000 fighters controlling the south of Lebanon with more than 150,000 missiles in its arsenal.

While we were the subject and unique focus of public criticism, Iran backed these organisations and used these Arab countries as a platform to fight Israel without considering the best interest of these nations and the well-being of their people. A great example of this is Hezbollah, which destroyed Lebanon politically, economically, and socially. Hamas, on the other hand, does not care for the people in Gaza, using them as human shields and stealing the humanitarian aid that is sent to them.

Leaders of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the like have been cooperating and calling for the destruction of Israel. Day by day the threat to us became imminent without significant intervention from the international community. Unfortunately, what we feared happened, and the nightmare of the attacks began.

The seventh of October is considered to be the most tragic day in Jewish modern history. On that day Hamas took more than 1,200 innocent lives — men, women, and children — wounded thousands, and 254 people were kidnapped and dragged into Gaza to face the unimaginable in the hands of this terrorist group. There is only one tragic event that could compare to the horrors that the Israeli people went through that day — The Holocaust.

Then and now, Jews are being killed because they are Jews. Then and now, the international community did not give us sufficient assistance that such an atrocious situation required — with the exceptional example of the Dominican Republic — which agreed to receive thousands of Jewish people during the Second World War.

However, the main difference between then and now is the existence of Israel, a Jewish State with strong and brave defence forces, with an army committed to defending the right of its people to exist peacefully in their homeland, with the promise to chase and punish everyone who tries to destroy it.

One year after October 7 we are still mourning our victims and we still have 101 individuals kidnapped in Gaza. We are working and praying for the liberation of those who are still held hostage, but also chasing and hitting all those dark forces trying to kill us.

At the same time, we are looking to continue the search for peace with moderate Arab states in the Middle East: on one hand, fighting terrorism without hesitation, on the other hand, looking for peace and normality with the nations around us.

Raslan Abu Rukun is the Israeli ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

One year after October 7, 101 of those kidnapped by Hamas remain in captivity in Gaza.

Raslan Abu Rukun