Israel ‘Hostages and Missing Families Forum’ formed ‘less than 24 hours’ after attack

The Israeli “Hostage and Missing Families Forum” was formed “less than 24 hours” following the October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel by the Hamas Islamic organization, according to their website. 

Better known for their “Bring Them Home” campaign, with posters emblazoned with the slogan ubiquitous throughout Israel, the website of the organization behind the advertising claims it was “formed by the families of the abductees.”

However, the prompt formation of this nonprofit organization and the apparent sophistication and skill of its website and advertising campaigns raise questions about the resources and intentions behind the endeavor. Further research may belie the grassroots origins of this organization.

The website provides no concrete information about specific parties involved in the establishment of the Forum or the families who allegedly form its nucleus. A basic search for information on who owns the website on Whois reveals that the website was registered on October 10, 2023 by MMS Communication Israel Ltd, also known as Leo Burnett Israel, a worldwide advertising agency considered one of the “giants of the industry.”¹ Recent projects by Leo Burnett Israel include “Eva’s Stories,” an Instagram docuseries that imagines what a young girl growing up during the Holocaust would have experienced if social media had existed.²

Although information on the advertising agency mobilized by the small group of Kibbutznik families within three days of the attack is scant, Leo Burnett Worldwide boasts an annual revenue of $1.9 billion.³ There appears to be a massive budget for advertising campaigns alone, which does not include the “medical and emotional support” and “professional assistance” the Forum provides.⁴ 

According to an article by Jewish Insider, major players in the organization include former Labor MK Emilie Moatti, who has been actively involved in the protests against judicial reform; former Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri; Liat Bell Sommer, a producer and editor at Channel 13; and various retired ambassadors including Nadav Tamir, former Israeli diplomat and current J Street Israel Executive Director. The CEO and chief fundraiser of the Forum is Emilie Moatti’s brother, Yossi Moatti, who appears to be a researcher at IBM, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

“This particular lineup of people who have been actively invested in promoting chaos in the streets of Israel for the better part of a year, and who have in general worked with Arabs against Jewish interests, does not seem to be the best group of leaders for an organization that purportedly fights for hostages’ families’ interests,” said GEN Israel affairs commentator Helena Sheyman. 

She continued: “The intentional distortion of the facts and the activities of those involved suggest an underlying agenda; in fact, the distinctly political nature of the Forum and its tactics ‘pushed away a small group of hostages’ relatives, who established their own, more hawkish group and publicly criticized the forum’.⁵ 

“Certainly, pouring millions of dollars into advertising campaigns is worthy of critique when many soldiers fighting the battle on the ground lack basic equipment with one hand behind their back against the enemy.

“Furthermore, a reasonable, justifiable explanation for how the border was infiltrated and the hostages were taken in the first place has not yet been provided.” International military experts have expressed the opinion that Israel intentionally stood down on October 7th. 

“Perhaps this fact alone is too incriminating for the public eye,” said Sheyman. “Perhaps a diversion from this fact serves as the underlying agenda of the Forum: to fill the public eye with slogans, posters, and merchandise screaming, ‘Bring Them Home!’ and other empty slogans. The result is a distraction from widespread, high-level betrayals and collective ongoing failures by leveraging million-dollar ad campaigns to bait well-meaning Jews worldwide.”

She concluded: “The professed mission of the Forum is to return hostages to their families, though maybe a more accurate depiction of their mission is to rally the Jewish world – and their pockets – around an insubstantial effort that, in practice, has no real interest in winning a victory in a war officials didn’t lift a finger to prevent.”

1. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Burnett#:~:text=Leo%20 Burnett%2C%20 ↩︎
2. https://leoburnett.com/work/evas-stories ↩︎
3. https://www.zippia.com/leo-burnett-careers-29406/revenue/#:~:text=Leo%20Burnett%27s%20revenue%20is%20%241.9%20billion.&text=Leo%20Burnett%20has%209%2C000%20employees,was%20%241.9B%20in%202022 ↩︎
4. https://stories.bringthemhomenow.net/about ↩︎
5. https://jewishinsider.com/2023/12/israel-hostages-and-missing-persons-families-forum-gaza-hamas/ ↩︎