In late March, I traveled to Israel for the first time since the devastating terror attacks of October 7, 2023. It was a complicated visit as I balanced the pain of visiting the Gaza envelope, including Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Nova Music Festival site, with sunset runs along Tel Aviv’s magical, still-bustling beachfront. When people asked me about my trip, I simply couldn’t find the right words to describe it.
While parts were very sad, I’ve always felt that a bad day in Israel was better than a good day anywhere else. But it seemed disingenuous to say that the trip was “great.” Israel’s economy is recovering — I saw very few tourists — and the collective pain and trauma of a country at war is palpable.
Earlier this week, I met Ilay David. His younger brother, Evyatar, was taken hostage at the Nova Music Festival. After speaking with Ilay, I finally found the strength to write. This is his story.
For 580 days, Ilay David has lived a nightmare that few of us can comprehend.
His younger brother, Evyatar, a gifted musician with dreams of visiting Asia and studying music production, remains captive in Gaza after being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival.
“He’s the kindest soul I know,” Ilay told me during a recent interview as he traveled through Atlanta on a tour of American cities, part of his mission to ensure the hostages aren’t forgotten as the public’s attention wanes.
The now-24-year-old Evyatar (he has celebrated two birthdays during captivity) was attending the festival with friends when Hamas terrorists attacked. His family lived in uncertainty until February, when Hamas released a propaganda video confirming he was alive. Because information about Evyatar’s condition had been so scarce, it was a moment of both intense relief and horrible pain.
“That’s when we discovered I have two new brothers,” Ilay said, referring to hostages Tal Shoham and Omer Wenkert, who were held with Evyatar before their release on Feb. 22, 2025 – which Evyatar and his best friend and fellow hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal were forced to watch from a car at the release site.
Shoham and Wenkert provided firsthand accounts of conditions inside what Ilay describes as “the dungeon.” They revealed what many feared: cramped tunnels with a makeshift toilet that the prisoners dug themselves and were forced to sleep beside. The captives were kept alive but dehydrated, with no connection to the outside world.
Somehow, Ilay, his parents, and his sister have found the strength to face each new day, finding solace in small things such as Thursday night jam sessions at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where musicians gather to play for the families of the kidnapped.
“Music is a powerful tool,” Ilay said. “When I see him and listen to him play music again – only then will I know he’s home.”
As negotiations between Israel and Hamas stall, Ilay is traveling across the world, meeting with elected officials, community leaders, and journalists in an effort to keep the hostages’ plight visible. He avoids politics, focusing instead on the human element of this ongoing tragedy, and encourages people to focus on the individual stories of each hostage.
“We have to think out of the box,” he said, suggesting music events and collective advocacy that can renew public attention as symbols like yellow pins become normalized.
“It’s become politicized,” he told me, explaining how in Israel, the hostage issue has been filtered through divisive partisan lenses. “Instead of discussing the best way to bring them back, it became about politics.”
Through it all, Ilay sustains himself with small acts of normalcy – running, exercising, seeing friends. He and his family are trying to stay sane, “Because when Evyatar comes back, we will be the ones who take care of him.”
Follow Evyatar’s story on Instagram and visit the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.