The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, May 6, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A group of Utah lawmakers and Jewish leaders viewed 45 minutes of unedited video of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel in a closed screening at the state Capitol on Tuesday meant to reinforce for them the brutality and reality of what the victims experienced that day.
The screening was organized by Senate President Stuart Adams, who said the footage is a reminder that the ensuing conflict between Israel and Gaza is a global issue. Speaking briefly after viewing the graphic footage, a somber Adams compared Utah leaders watching the video to other nations and allies supporting the U.S. after the 9/11 terror attacks.
“We had people that understood our pain, and we see the pain that the Israeli people are going through. There’s nothing that can explain it. We need to stand with the free world to try to protect what’s going on. And yeah, it’s important that we understand and remember, I will never forget. Hopefully the world never forgets,” Adams said.
The footage of the attack that killed about 1,200 people, provided by the Israeli government, has also been shown to lawmakers in other states and seen by members of Congress, journalists and diplomats, Adams said. It includes footage taken from body-worn cameras worn by Hamas attackers that was streamed on social media.
Some media were also invited to attend the screening Tuesday, including Utah News Dispatch. The Dispatch declined to sign the non-disclosure agreement required to view the footage and therefore did not sit in on the screening, but spoke to some who viewed it.
While he has talked and read about the attack, Adams said seeing the footage “made it real.”
Asked about the level of Israel’s response in Gaza, Adams shared his sympathy but emphasized the Israeli hostages that remain there.
“You have to feel for anyone who’s been devastated like that, but you also have to stand up and try to defend what you believe is right. And we need the hostages. Why aren’t they released?” Adams said.
Of about 250 hostages taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, the Associated Press reports, about 120 remain there, with 43 pronounced dead. Another 105 were exchanged during a weeklong cease-fire in November for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Four were rescued earlier this month in a blistering operation by Israel.
With heavy civilian casualties in Gaza, Israel’s response to the attack has been called one of the most destructive military efforts this century, according to AP. The Hamas-linked Gaza Health Ministry has put the death toll above 34,000.
The state of Utah has not been asked by Israel for any specific resources or support, Adams said, though he expressed his willingness to stand with the nation. In a prepared statement prior to the screening, Adams pointed to the state’s ties with Israel.
Utah and Israel have a strong diplomatic and economic connection, with trade between the two exceeding $170 million in 2022, the same year that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox led a trade mission to Israel, the governor’s office noted last year.
A major with the Israeli Air Force, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, spoke to the group before they viewed the footage. He said his message to them was that seeing the film would break through the noise of the media and especially social media as they saw for themselves what happened on Oct. 7, stressing that it can’t be allowed to happen again.
“And if we need to fight Hamas until it’s done, that’s what must be done. Because as long as Hamas exists, or the same ideology exists, this will just happen again. It will happen to Israel. It will happen to others,” the major said.
Asked why the footage was screened in Utah specifically, the major said that the ultimate goal is to spread the message everywhere, not just to one state. He compared it to American soldiers in WWII who witnessed atrocities committed in the Holocaust and shared what they saw with the world.
If not for the need to show respect for the families of the people killed and wounded in the footage, he said he would want to show it to everyone.
“So we showed it only to a select group of people that will tell others what they saw,” he said.
Also in the audience was Rabbi Avremi Zippel, a well-known Jewish leader in the state.
“From what I understand, on a diplomatic level, Israel is trying to share this information with any state that will take it, and I know there had been some conversations when the new consul general took office about bringing it to Utah, and I’m glad to see that that has happened,” Zippel said.
Zippel said he was unprepared for the violence in the footage, especially the exultation he saw from the attackers.
“I think it’s important that lawmakers understand this is not two nations that are at war with one another, over land, over ideology, over any sort of national existence. This is an existential battle. This is a war between people who want to live and a war between people who believe that their calling from on high is to wipe out the first group of people,” Zippel said. “And I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t have that level of perspective before watching this.”
Zippel said he received a text from one lawmaker earlier in the day who said they wouldn’t be attending because the violent footage would be too difficult to watch. As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, Zippel said he believes it’s important to remember difficult things, and that just eight months after the Oct. 7 attack, what happened is being forgotten.
Zippel said he does not believe that by emphasizing the brutality of Hamas’ actions, everyday Muslims could face hostility.
“Having watched this film, I certainly don’t feel any level of acrimony or resentment towards a single follower or adherent of the Islamic faith,” Zippel said.
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