On video: Statement by the families of the Tel Aviv abductees: "This is not the time for procrastination"/Photo: Shlomi Gabai
The outrageous campaign pretending to be the headquarters of the kidnapped: a large billboard is now placed on an office tower in Ramat Gan. "This time they are coming back!", it reads, and below those familiar squares of the abductees who are still dying in Gaza.
However, at a second look it is revealed that this is not a campaign by the headquarters of the abductors, but an imposter campaign that calls for the observance of chametz during the upcoming Passover holiday.
"Reuniting on a holiday. Without chametz and this time they are coming back!", it read. And under the pictures of the abductees, in the same ad style and colors as the headquarters of the families of the abductees, appears the inscription "We do not eat chametz for the sake of the abductees".
The photo, taken by Amir Terkel, has been circulating on social media for the past few hours and is bringing angry reactions. "Troll", "there's no way it's real", and "they're preparing the ground for the argument that because of the apostate left they're not coming back and only "a full-on right-wing government and now with the file" will bring them back".
Amir Terkel, who took the picture, said that "at first I thought I didn't see it right. Unfortunately, I saw that it was real. While the country is in crisis and the families of the abductees are being dismantled from the protection of this organization or rabbi, the families of the abductees are impersonating the families of the abductees by stealing the graphic language and branding and also deliberately placing their sign next to a real sign of The families. All this to promote repentance. There is nothing cynical about this campaign riding on the backs of the abductees."
In a conversation with the outdoor signage company Mega Media, the representative was not interested in adding information, but said that it was a campaign by the families of the abductees. When we drew her attention to the fact that the ad calls for keeping chametz, she said that "they will get back to you from the company."
At the headquarters, the abductees clarified that the ad was not related to them and did not originate on their behalf.
A scan of the barcode attached to the ad sheds some light on the initiator of the ad - Rabbi Yaakov Adas who also published a similar ad on his Facebook page. The scan leads to a religious text based on the words of the Ari. It says, among other things, that "How will we help the abductees to get out of Hamas's Egypt? Be careful not to eat leaven from the beginning to the end of Pesach and eat unleavened bread and kosher products only for Pesach, by this the great spiritual light that comes on Pesach on the souls of the people of Israel is greatly strengthened and gives the power of the exodus of captives to freedom even above the path of nature, as it was in the generation of the Exodus from Egypt.
"Those who can influence whether a little or a lot, will try to convince relatives and acquaintances, neighbors and friends to comply with this request. At least this year and hopefully every year. And through this we will also win the war as it was during the Exodus."
There has not yet been a response from Yaakov Adas.