One Year Later: Rep. Courtney Sits Down with CT Hostage Family
NORWICH, CT – Rep. Joe Courtney sat down with the family of a freed Israeli-American hostage with ties to Connecticut to mark the first anniversary since Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack.
“My cousin Yehuda called me and said my ‘daughter has been taken to Gaza [by Hamas].’ He called me Sunday, October 8 and I immediately called Joe Courtney,” Jerry Fischer of Waterford, Connecticut said. “He got the wheels rolling.”
“My office was able to connect him to the State Department on that Sunday and by the end of the day Liat was registered in their system [as a missing person] and that gave the family something to hold on to in terms of making sure someone was tracking her whereabouts,” Courtney said. “By the end of November, because there was a ceasefire negotiated, she was part of the last group that was released. Diplomacy in that instance succeeded.”
In July, Rep. Courtney met with Liat Beinin Atzili, her father, Yehuda Beinin, and Jerry Fischer in Washington, DC.
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Courtney also invited Fischer as his guest for the 2024 State of the Union to bring attention to the urgent need for a ceasefire to bring all hostages home safely.
To read Rep. Courtney’s statement on the release of Liat Beinin Atzili, click here.
To read Rep. Courtney’s statement on the murder of Aviv Atzil, click here.