Relatives of victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks are entering Israel's election race, according to Reuters. They are running across party lines with the stated aim of healing a divided country.

Most of the family candidates back parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They blame his government for the security failures of that day and for what followed. Negri, 60, is running with Together, led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett in an alliance aiming to oust Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition.

One candidate is Noam Tibon, 64, a former general. His son was trapped with his young family in Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the attack, and Tibon drove from Tel Aviv to rescue them, fighting Hamas gunmen on the way. He called October 7 "the biggest failure in our history."

Sharon Sharabi, 51, is running with the right-wing Israel Our Home party. His brothers Yossi and Eli were seized from Kibbutz Be'eri; Yossi did not survive captivity, and Eli was released in early 2025 after nearly 500 days. Talik Gvili, whose police officer son Ran was the last hostage whose remains were recovered from Gaza, was personally chosen for Netanyahu's own party slate.

Sources: businessday.co.za; devdiscourse.com; reuters.com.