Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – "A historic day, a very emotional day." This is how Elay Karavani, a survivor of the Hamas attack at the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, spoke to Adnkronos about the ongoing parliamentary elections in Israel. "I hope these elections bring real change. After everything we've experienced—the tragedy of October 7, the wars against our enemies, and the conflicts within our own society—I believe the time has come for new leadership," says Karavani, 26.
Israel's leadership, he believes, needs "people who can take responsibility, make difficult decisions, and put the future of our country first." While the call for an independent investigation into October 7 has become a central theme for the candidates, Karavani says, "I want to see a country that learns from its mistakes, that rediscovers unity instead of drifting further apart, and that offers the next generation a reason to believe in a better future."
Karavani spent nine hours hiding among avocado trees on October 7, the terrorists with their Kalashnikovs at his disposal close enough to hear their conversations.
He had sent his family a message, which he thought would be his last, to express his love for them. Then he fled, escorted by Israeli soldiers, through a road strewn with civilian bodies to a safe location. "It all started Saturday night, around 1:00 a.m., we arrived at the festival site," he told Adnkronos in the days following the attack.
“We were having a great time,” but “suddenly, at about 6:30, the music stopped and someone took the microphone and said 'red color,' which meant there were rockets coming.” At that point, Karavani recalls, “we wanted to escape, so my friend and I went to the car, but we waited for two other friends who were with us. After about 10 minutes, we saw them, but there was a huge line of cars trying to escape, so we decided it was better and safer to stay out of the car in the dunes and wait until the alarm was over.”
The young man, then 23, and his friends then "started running east, and we kept hearing gunfire behind us, but we didn't look back. Our plan was to go to the nearest town because we thought it was safe." The gunfire continued unabated, so much so that Karavani decided to send "a message to my family to tell them I love them, no matter what. I thought our end was near. I lost two of my friends."
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