Rep. Josh Gottheimer's battle to bring Idan Alexander Back

I

t’s been 584 days in torturous captivity. But who’s counting?

The announcement that Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American IDF soldier who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, would be released on Monday was cause for immeasurable gratitude to Hashem and celebration across the Jewish world, across Israel, and — perhaps in insufficient measure — across the United States.

Watching another Jewish soul cross the line from afeilah l’orah, the sole thought and feeling of the moment: “Edan’s finally coming home!”

But while most hostage release announcements have been tinged with the pain of the cost in blood, concessions, and terrorists, this one had something else, perhaps more sinister: uncertainty. Absent a clear quid pro quo, with no illusions of Hamas suddenly developing a human heart, the ultimate price of this joy is unknown.

Hoping for Life, Living for Hope

Edan’s parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, have suffered neither leaden sinking pain nor stony eventual acceptance. Rather, the experience has been akin to “bobbing like straw” — sharp pendulum swings between joy and grief, hope and despair, good news and bad.

On the morning of October 7, Edan called his mom to let her know he was safe. She did not hear from him again.

A week later, Israel notified the family that Edan had been taken hostage and that there was footage of him surrounded by terrorists in Gaza.

Two rounds of hostage releases did not include his name. Some returning captives said they had seen him, and that he looked weak but in good spirits.

In August, the only other fellow American hostage believed to be alive, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was found dead. This hit hard.

In November, terrorists released a propaganda video featuring Edan, alive.

Again in April, Hamas released a sign-of-life video of him, in which he said he was “collapsing physically and mentally.” Three days later, the terrorists said they had lost him in an airstrike.

Through it all, Adi and Yael kept their faith in his life, and their steady hope for his eventual return. Adi dismissed the videos as psychological warfare, and sent a message to Edan through the media: “Stay calm. Keep surviving. You are not forgotten, definitely not by your parents, and you will be out soon.”

Now, with the announcement of his imminent return, the Alexanders boarded a plane for Israel, hopeful that this would not be another exercise in mental torture.

One Jersey Boy for Another

As reports of Edan’s release flooded US media, one man’s efforts stood out.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer represents New Jersey’s Fifth District, home to the Alexander family since they moved from Tel Aviv in 2008 after a brief stop in Maryland. In his own words, since the Hamas massacre on October 7, Gottheimer has been “obsessively focused” on getting the hostages home. Gottheimer is also running for governor of New Jersey, and I had an opportunity to meet him in Mishpacha offices near Lakewood. Intensive final negotiations over Edan between Hamas and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were already underway in Doha. Josh was deeply involved, talking to Witkoff daily and receiving daily classified briefings. He had just gotten off the phone with Witkoff, and earlier, with Adi Alexander, when he arrived.

Gottheimer was interviewed by all the big networks on Sunday night, as the world waited to see if Edan would indeed come home. His message was the same one he had given me when we spoke.

“People question whether he’s really American,” Gottheimer said. “I get that all the time. ‘He’s Israeli, he fought for the IDF, so what is he?’ I tell them he’s an all-American kid. He graduated Tenafly High School. He swam on the swim team, he went to the prom, rooted for the Knicks. He’s a Jersey boy.”

Gottheimer never misses a chance to call attention back to the hostages. “The question is, why does no one talk about the five American hostages or 46 Americans killed on October 7?” he points out.  “If it had been in Norway or Sweden in which some Americans got kidnapped or and killed, we would have Lifetime specials on each of the kids. There’d be yellow ribbons on every tree in America.”

As the member of the House Intelligence Committee responsible for the Middle East, he has pushed tirelessly for the release of the hostages, petitioning the White House relentlessly to apply more pressure to Arab countries. Even on Sunday, before Hamas announced it would release Edan, he sent a letter to President Trump.

“We urge you to use all diplomatic tools at your disposal, in concert with our regional allies and partners, to ensure Edan’s release and the release of the remains of the deceased American hostages as soon as possible,” he wrote. “Every day in captivity adds to the nightmare for the hostages and their families. We must bring them home now.”

Gottheimer visited Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and more to work on a deal, and has written legislation to turn up the pressure on Hamas. Not a day goes by in which he does not have a lengthy chat with Edan’s father Adi, sharing strength and hope.

“They are the most amazing people in the world, just brimming with optimism,” Josh told me about the Alexanders. “The only time I saw them crack”—here, Gottheimer hesitates, and his own voice cracks a little as well—“was when Hersh [Goldberg-Polin]… you know, Hersh died. They came right over to the house then and we talked.”

Alexander has joined Gottheimer as his special guest at the president’s joint address to Congress, and other significant events.

Now the Bad News

Why did Hamas suddenly decide to release Edan? They called it a “gift to Trump.” Does it have anything to do with Qatar’s planned gift of a big ol’ $400 million airplane to the man in the big white house? Spin machines worked overtime on Sunday, with many conflicting analyses abound. The takes seem to fall into three main categories:

The Pollyanna: Steady Israeli military pressure and unflagging US support have made Hamas desperate, willing to free hostages without getting anything concrete in return. The release is the first step in the Witkoff outline for a deal, which Israel agreed to long ago, calling for ten live hostages, a 45-day hudna in the fighting, and aid to non-Hamas Gazans only. Celebrate!

The Eeyore: This is the latest sign of a widening gap between the US and Israel, as seen with US–Iran nuclear negotiations behind Israel’s back, a US ceasefire with the Houthis excluding Israel, and talks in Saudi Arabia over the kingdom’s nuclear aspirations. This is a US-Hamas deal over Israel’s head. Worry!

The Turtle (slow and wise): Hamas is trying its best to regain legitimacy, this is a gamble that may pay off for them. It’s the Putin Play: Putin returned US citizen Mark Fogel from Russian detention, and Trump became his best friend. Hamas is giving him a win in the hopes of getting the Putin treatment. Will it work? Not even Trump knows. Wait!

At press time, before Edan Alexander’s release, I ask Josh Gottheimer for his opinion. Predictably, he won’t say anything that may jeopardize the deal. “Praying that Edan Alexander is released,” he texts back. “Cautiously optimistic, but we will keep fighting anyway until he comes home.”

And as for us, we’ll keep praying. Even after he comes home. —

Edan’s Congressman

The Alexanders have found a ready friend in their efforts to free Edan — their congressman. In the US House, Josh Gottheimer has distinguished himself for his efforts to advance Israel’s cause. His work helped Israel get funding for its Arrow 3 and David’s Sling aerial defense systems, and other armaments. He wrote laws sanctioning Iran, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and their supporters. He has sponsored bills to combat BDS, claw back funding from UNRWA, fight the infamous Squad, and even ban ditties like “From the river….”

Gottheimer lobbies his colleagues to understand Israel, leading freshman lawmakers on a yearly visit to the land, showing them the facts on the ground, how close everything is, and the existential danger Israel faces at all times.

Supporting Israel can be a dangerous and unpopular position. Gottheimer has dealt with protests and pushback against his advocacy, both in Washington and New Jersey.

“I get chased around the Capitol, people screaming at me, ‘dirty Zionist,’ ‘baby killer,’ ‘genocide Josh,’ and more,” he says.

The “Squad” of progressive representatives, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex (AOC), has completely cut off contact with him.

With Democrats’ drift deeper into far-left waters over the past decade, Gottheimer represents a vanishing minority of moderates struggling to shore up the party and anchor it to bedrock values. Since his election to Congress in 2016, he’s been a key member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group that clamors for everybody in government to knock it off and get along.

In 2022, with Dems in charge but clearly floundering, he sat down with party leaders Schumer and Pelosi in an attempt to show them where they had gone wrong. His message? He replayed a 1996 Bill Clinton campaign ad, in which the latter called for “safety, security, and prosperity,” vowing secure borders, police support, and tax cuts.

Imagine an aristo-Democrat saying that today. “This is how we won, this is how we’ll win,” Gottheimer told the speaker and majority leader.

In the current sea of progressivism, Josh Gottheimer is an island of traditional values. He entered politics as a speechwriter for Bill Clinton, later becoming his protégé.

“I was 22 years old, standing in the Oval Office, and President Clinton was reading my speech back to me,” Gottheimer says. “It was a surreal moment.”

As a centrist with the level-headed values of making life more stable, affordable, and livable for New Jerseyans, he echoes Clinton’s priorities for secure borders and lower taxes and living costs while battling anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment.

And as the Alexanders have seen, his efforts behind the scenes for Edan’s release have been of inestimable importance.

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1061)