Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, spoke at a commemoration ceremony in Dallas marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.
“Since October 7, 2023, Israel has faced extraordinary challenges from the carnage caused by Hamas,” Abbott said on Monday. “No country faces the daily onslaught of missiles fired on it like Israel does. No country faces daily terrorist attacks like Israel does. But Israel refuses to be defined by those attacks of war.”
Abbott said that “one year later, Israel is still defending itself against Hamas and Hezbollah, and defending against attacks by Iran itself. Israel cannot have peace—the world cannot have peace—until Hamas is gone. Those who were killed and those who were taken hostage by Hamas will never be forgotten. Texas stands with the State of Israel and the Jewish community.”
Attendees at the gathering included Kenny Goldberg, chair of the Texas Holocaust, Genocide and Antisemitism Advisory Commission; Igor Alterman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas that hosted the event; and Livia Link-Raviv, Israel’s Consul General to the Southwest.
Koby Pode, a survivor of the terror attacks, and LeElle Slifer, a family member of a victim, also participated.
