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Israel in Chicago Welcome, ברוכים הבאים, أهلا وسهلا and bienvenidos to our new page “Israel in Chicago”.

The Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest 🇮🇱🇺🇸
Building lasting connections between Israel and the Midwest through community, partnerships, and shared stories.

10/09/2026

Sunset by the Mediterranean sea, Tel Aviv’s beachfront, a quiet stretch of desert. A few moments from across Israel as we head into Shabbat.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend, with time to rest and enjoy a moment of calm.

Shabbat Shalom. 🇮🇱 💙

It's been three years since October 7. We remember the 1,200 lives taken, the families torn apart, and the communities c...
10/08/2026

It's been three years since October 7. We remember the 1,200 lives taken, the families torn apart, and the communities changed forever by Hamas’s terror attacks.

Last night, we gathered as a community to honor the victims, stand with their families, and find strength in one another. We carry a shared responsibility to honor the lives lost, tell their stories, and ensure that October 7 is never forgotten or rewritten.

Through UNBROKEN, we also heard the stories of Israeli athletes and sports fans affected by the attacks and the war that followed. Their experiences speak to profound loss and the determination to continue living, rebuilding, and finding hope.

Consul General Elad Strohmayer, Congressman Brad Schneider, and community leaders joined in honoring the victims and expressing solidarity with survivors and bereaved families. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this gathering possible, including Yossi Held, Alison Pure-Slovin, Deborah Ben Aderet, Rabbi Adam Wright, and our partners at StandWithUs, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Maccabi World Union מכבי תנועה עולמית, and BJBE.

May the memory of those we lost be a blessing. 🇮🇱🕯️

Rotem Matias grew up in a home filled with music. His mother, Shachar, was a singer, and his father, Shlomi, taught musi...
10/07/2026

Rotem Matias grew up in a home filled with music. His mother, Shachar, was a singer, and his father, Shlomi, taught music. One of his childhood memories is of his father playing guitar and singing him to sleep.

On October 7, 2023, Rotem was 16 when Hamas terrorists attacked their home in Kibbutz Holit. His father tried to hold the door closed while his mother covered Rotem with her body. The terrorists broke in, threw an explosive and opened fire, murdering both parents.

His mother’s body shielded him from the gunfire, saving his life. Wounded in the abdomen, Rotem stayed silent as the terrorists searched the house. For hours, relatives stayed in contact through text messages, helping him care for his wounds and remain hidden until Israeli soldiers rescued him. His older sisters, Shir and Shaked, survived elsewhere on the kibbutz.

After surgery, Rotem asked to keep the bullet removed from his abdomen as a reminder of his parents and the life they had saved. Speaking about them, he said, “They will live on in memories and in stories.”

Three years later, we remember Shachar and Shlomi, the love they gave their children and the lives they should still be sharing. We hold Rotem, Shir and Shaked in our hearts. 🕯️🇮🇱

Avigail Idan was just three years old when Hamas terrorists murdered her parents, Smadar and Roee, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza o...
10/07/2026

Avigail Idan was just three years old when Hamas terrorists murdered her parents, Smadar and Roee, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. Her father was holding her in his arms when he was killed.

Avigail survived and made her way to a neighbor’s home, where Hagar Brodutch took her in alongside her own three children. But Hamas terrorists entered that home too, kidnapping Hagar and all four children to Gaza. Avigail’s older siblings, Michael and Amalia, survived the attack by hiding in a closet for hours until they were rescued.

Throughout captivity, Hagar cared for Avigail alongside her own children. Avigail spent her fourth birthday held hostage and was released two days later, after 50 days in captivity.

Three years later, we remember Smadar and Roee, who should be here watching their children grow, and hold Avigail, Michael and Amalia in our hearts, wishing them love, safety and peace. 🕯️🇮🇱

“Good luck and see you next summer.”Those were Julia Shindel’s words as her 23-year-old son, Mark, left Chicago to retur...
10/07/2026

“Good luck and see you next summer.”

Those were Julia Shindel’s words as her 23-year-old son, Mark, left Chicago to return to Israel, just four days before October 7. He was about to begin studying civil engineering at Ben-Gurion University. During visits to his family, Chicago’s buildings had inspired him to imagine what he might one day build himself.

On October 7, Mark was with friends at the Nova music festival when Hamas attacked. They tried to leave by car but became trapped in traffic, then fled on foot and hid in bushes beside the road.

Even there, Mark tried to reassure his friend Orel. Orel later remembered Mark looking into his eyes, shaking his hand and saying, “Orel, we will get through this together.” As they tried to escape, Hamas terrorists shot and killed Mark. His friends survived.

Three years later, we remember a young man who should have returned to his family with stories about his classes, his friends and the life he was building. We hold Mark’s family close in our hearts as they carry a loss no family should have to bear. 🕯️🇮🇱

Ariel Bibas loved Batman, making people laugh and watching butterflies during family picnics. He was four. His baby brot...
10/07/2026

Ariel Bibas loved Batman, making people laugh and watching butterflies during family picnics. He was four. His baby brother, Kfir, was just nine months old, bringing joy to Shiri and Yarden’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

On October 7, 2023, terrorists kidnapped the family to Gaza, taking Yarden separately. Hamas terrorists filmed Shiri holding her sons tightly in her arms as gunmen surrounded them.

Yarden was released after 484 days in captivity, still hoping to see his wife and sons again.

Their bodies were returned to Israel in February 2025. Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been murdered in captivity. They were buried together.

Inspired by Ariel’s love of Batman, marathon runner Yoel Levy races in the superhero’s costume to honor the boys and share their story around the world.

We remember Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, and the life they should still be sharing with Yarden. We hold him and their family in our hearts as they carry this loss every day. 🕯️🧡

At 23, Hersh Goldberg-Polin had a love of music, soccer and exploring new places. He lived in Jerusalem with his family,...
10/07/2026

At 23, Hersh Goldberg-Polin had a love of music, soccer and exploring new places. He lived in Jerusalem with his family, and his parents, Rachel and Jon, had grown up in Chicago.

On October 7, 2023, he was at the Nova music festival with his close friend, Aner Shapira. When Hamas attacked, they sought safety with other festivalgoers in a roadside bomb shelter. Terrorists threw grenades inside, and Aner repeatedly threw them back out before he was killed.

Hersh lost his left forearm in one of the explosions. He tied a tourniquet around his own arm to stop the bleeding before Hamas terrorists forced him onto a pickup truck and kidnapped him to Gaza.

For nearly 11 months, his parents worked tirelessly to bring him home. But in late August 2024, Hamas murdered Hersh alongside five other hostages in a tunnel in Gaza

Three years after October 7, we remember Hersh and the life he should still be living. Our hearts are with his parents and the entire Goldberg-Polin family. 🕯️🇮🇱

“That morning should have changed what the world understood about Hamas and its murderous ideology of Islamist extremism...
10/07/2026

“That morning should have changed what the world understood about Hamas and its murderous ideology of Islamist extremism. Instead, we have spent three years being asked to justify our refusal to let our families be massacred again.”

In his op-ed for the Chicago Tribune, Consul General Elad Strohmayer reflects on three years since October 7, the people whose stories we must keep alive, and why Hamas’s responsibility for the war must not be forgotten.

Read the full op-ed: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/07/opinion-three-years-after-october-7-israel-hamas-war/

Three years ago today, Hamas carried out a brutal terrorist attack on Israel. Children, parents, and grandparents were a...
10/07/2026

Three years ago today, Hamas carried out a brutal terrorist attack on Israel. Children, parents, and grandparents were among the 1,200 people murdered. 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza, many families were reunited, while others had to lay their loved ones to rest.

Three years later, their absence is still felt every day by the people who love them. Holidays, birthdays, and family gatherings bring the pain of an empty chair where they should be sitting.

Today, we remember their lives and the futures taken from them. We stand with the families who carry this grief every day, and with the survivors for whom healing is still an ongoing journey.

May the memory of those we lost be a blessing. 🕯️🇮🇱

10/06/2026

Three years have passed, but for us October 7 never ended.

We remember the faces, the names, the lives that were taken, and the families left behind. With every passing year, the pain remains, the absence remains, and so does the responsibility to remember.

We carry them with us. Always. 🕯️🇮🇱

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