“Holding Liat”- Grief as a Microcosm of Politics

“Holding Liat” is the story about the kidnapping of Liat Beinin Atzili by Hamas commandos. Beyond being a documentary covering the efforts to free an Israeli-American hostage, it is a window into various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, via three generations of a family and bridging two countries.

The story opens with a phone call: a father learns from an Israeli army intelligence officer that his daughter Liat “is being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip and is apparently alive.” There is no news available about his son-in-law.

Director Brandon Kramer and producer Lance Kramer, who are related to the family, begin chronicling their relatives’ experience two weeks after October 7, when Liat and Aviv Atzil were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Southern Israel. They use cinéma vérité to capture the narrative without being intrusive.

Liat’s parents, Yehuda and Chaya, are introduced alongside images of the wreckage in Kibbutz Nir Oz. A bird perched tranquilly on barbed wire contrasts with the destruction. Observing the scene, Chaya remarks, “They didn’t protect her very well.”

The couple’s backstory is shared. Liat is a dual citizen and a history and civics teacher who specializes in Holocaust studies. Aviv, an artist, was born on Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he was the manager of the agricultural garage. They met at a young age, were married for thirty years, and had three children.

Yehuda Beinin, born in Philadelphia, emigrated to Israel along with Chaya in the early 1970s. They put down roots in Kibbutz Shomrat in northern Israel. Early in the film, we see a “Bernie” sticker on his car, a precursor to the political ideologies he will espouse. Understanding that Liat is in a situation beyond their control, Yehuda asserts with exasperation, “We are being led by crazy people, whether it’s on the Israeli side or the Palestinian side, and the result is all this death and destruction.”

The depth of Yehuda’s anger and resentment toward the Netanyahu government is evident as he watches clips of Bibi on the news, vocalizing about “avenging” the Hamas attack. Yehuda points out how the Prime Minister never wastes a crisis to advance his own agenda. The horrifying situation is a “classic dream” for Netanyahu, a way to save his government and his coalition (not to mention a deflection from his legal woes), and dazzle right-wing Israelis with his goal of annexing Gaza. The hostages become a sidebar to his interests.

While videos of Liat in happier times play in the background, a conversation centers on the international players in the negotiation mix. The family is advised to “leverage” Liat’s U.S. citizenship in Washington, D.C., and to make it an “American issue.” This fits in with Yehuda’s need to be “pro-active.” Chaya remains in Israel with the other grandchildren.

The movie begins time-stamping the action. Three weeks in, with the intent to present the “human side” of the story, Yehuda, along with Tal (Liat’s younger sister who was born in Israel and is a dual citizen) and Netta (Liat and Aviv’s middle son), travel to the halls of Congress to press their case for an American intervention in the release of Liat and Aviv.

Everyone is on a different page about what they believe is the best strategy and approach. Netta’s fury about his parents’ abduction is palpable. Yehuda repeatedly underscores his call to accentuate the “struggle for peace and reconciliation.” Tal dryly suggests, “Let’s focus on where they are,” as Yehuda insists, “Yes, but we have to do both things.” As an Israeli citizen, Yehuda is steadfast in his refusal to give Netanyahu a “free pass.” Amidst images of posters of the missing hostages being torn down, Tal asks wearily, “How do you co-exist?”

The first legislators they speak with are Senators Rick Scott, Joe Manchin, and Mitch McConnell. As a nine-year resident of Oregon, Tal snags a meeting with her state’s two senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. Wyden speaks of his genealogy and those who were lost in the Holocaust, yet Tal is unsure of her impact.

Yehuda then meets with Senator Chris Van Hollen to pose the key question, “Now what?” He is determined to discuss the situation from a comprehensive standpoint. However, the “political advisor” who serves as their handler disagrees. For her, the game plan is all about “Touching hearts. That’s it.” Yehuda is insistent on “adding dimension,” though he is repeatedly told, “You guys aren’t politicians. You’re not here for that. It’s all about the imperative. Wait for another day.”

Yehuda disagrees and refuses to stand down. He believes that he is honoring his daughter, “who is sensitive to other people’s suffering,” with his “message of reconciliation and peace.”

Week four brings the invasion of Gaza. Netta emphasizes, “I just want my parents back.” Yehuda is inflamed by Netanyahu’s appearances on Fox News, where the Prime Minister pronounces, “We need to root out Hamas completely,” while invoking “our civilization against their barbarism.” Yehuda is clear. “I take serious exception,” as a “war agenda” is promoted. He adds, “Israeli politics is a big part of why we are in this mess to begin with.”

Perhaps the quintessential event that encapsulates the fraying relationships between Jews is the dinner given by the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad). Netta has been tapped to give a speech as the child of hostages. After he delivers his talk, Yehuda begins working the room, speaking as a “kibbutznik.” He tells a group of men, “Let the religious establishment go from the government.” As the conversation ratchets up, the men respond that there is only the “one problem. The captives.” And they are “praying and crying for them.”

“Bibi Netanyahu isn’t crying,” snaps Yehuda.

As the situation devolves, his daughter informs him, “You listen to me! You’re not in Israel, and this is a different group of Jewish people!” There is a comic and surreal touch when one attendee approaches Yehuda to tell him he needs to put on a yarmulke. Tal insists, “Let’s leave.” But Yehuda is determined. He is “standing his ground.” To deal with the trauma, he wants to “concentrate on the larger picture.”

The camera shifts to a shot capturing Rep. Mike Johnson and Senator Joni Ernst talking about “monsters and total destruction.” Yehuda is beyond words. Despite his designation as “Honored Guest,” his reaction is unfiltered. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. This is bullshit. The messaging is all wrong. It’s supposed to be about the hostages, not long live Israel.”

During their visit to Washington, D.C., there are demonstrations in front of the White House calling on Biden to secure a ceasefire and to end the blockade of Gaza. Yehuda has the opportunity to meet a Palestinian advocate who is participating in ceasefire meetings. Yehuda tells him in a lowered voice that he is being sponsored by a group and has to work within certain guidelines. He listens as the Palestinian informs him of how he has lost half his family in Gaza.

About halfway through the film, we witness Yehuda in conversation with his brother Joel Beinen, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. Joel stands in as the American Jew who left Israel after disillusionment about the facts on the ground and the disconnect between his Jewish values and state realities. He gives a primer on how the history of Israel and Palestine didn’t begin with October 7. He references the 750,000 Palestinian Arabs who fled the land or were forcibly expelled during 1948. He remarks to Yehuda, “Acknowledging the Nakba doesn’t mean a genocide of the Jewish people of Israel or driving Jews into the sea — or even necessarily, the end of Jewish statehood. It’s an acknowledgement of a historic wrong.”

As the brothers dialogue, we observe the sociopolitical struggles they have each grappled with. Joel’s 1972 exit from Israel and his philosophical “about face” resulted from the epiphany he had when he learned that the kibbutz he had joined (and the movement which he saw as the vanguard of a socialist transformation of the state) was built on the ruins of Palestinian villages. He qualified that reality as a “racialized norm.” For Joel, the question remains, “How do you reconcile [that] with Socialist ideology?”

Yehuda, who came to Israel with hopes for a shared society, ends the discourse with, “Nobody’s going anywhere, and we have to learn how to deal with that. We have to recognize the humanity in each other and move forward.”

By week seven, Aviv’s blood has been found close to a dumpster near the border. There is news of Liat, but false alarms and lists without her name leave the family on edge. On Zoom, Roger Carstens of the U.S. State Department, tells Liat’s parents, “The Americans aren’t coming home yet.” As each new roster comes in without Liat’s name, tensions rise, and relationships begin to wear thin.

It takes another seven days, but Liat is finally included in a group of hostages who will be getting out of Gaza after fifty-four days. They have been exchanged for thirty Palestinian prisoners. Yehuda and Chaya get a call from President Biden. Later, that joyous news is tempered by the confirmation of Aviv’s death.

When Liat returns to the Kibbutz, she views the complete devastation and visits the classroom where she taught. There are stickers on individual mailboxes. They read: Kidnapped. Released. Killed.

Watching protestors in Tel Aviv on television, Liat comments on the deep divisions. “People shouldn’t starve,” she says about the food being denied to Gazans. She adds, “But hostage taking is not okay.” Liat discusses the confusion she felt while staying with the female members of her abductor’s family. She mentions their empathy and their statement, “Our job is to keep you safe and healthy.” She explains how they had a worldview of being in the land. “They don’t want to be elsewhere.”

Liat is one of the speakers at the “It’s Time” joint Israeli-Palestinian peace event. Yehuda is in the audience. Presenters include Rula Hardal of A Land For All, who refers to the root problem as the “necessity of freedom and democracy for all.”

Three months later, the film accompanies Liat to Yad Vashem, where she leads her class through an exhibit on the Warsaw Ghetto. She focuses on the separation wall that divided the Jews from the Poles and the Germans. It obviously has a specific meaning for her.

Later, in the peacefulness of a garden, Liat reflects on the fence dividing her from Gaza. She says quietly, “Today, that fence has a deeper significance.”

Photo: Meridian Hill Pictures