Holding Liat

One of the great ironies of the 10/7 Hamas atrocities was the fact that many of the murdered and abducted Israelis advocated liberal positions of peace and reconciliation with respect to Palestinians. Such was definitely the case for the Atzili family. Aviv and Liat were kidnapped and held captive in Gaza, leaving behind their grown children and elderly parents. Yet, Liat Atzili’s father Yehuda Beinin was no shrinking violet. He dutifully sat for media interviews to raise awareness for his daughter and son-in-law, but he also freely offered his opinions on Netanyahu, whether or not people wanted to hear them—and they usually didn’t. Beinin’s distant cousin (by marriage) Brandon Kramer documented the family during their long, painful crisis in Holding Liat, which opens Friday in theaters.

Beinin, his wife Chaya, and their daughter are American citizens, but they have lived in Israel for many years. They are also definitely leftwing, Netanyahu-despising Kibbutzniks, but that made no difference when Hamas abducted Liat and Aviv. Initially, their U.S. citizenship is presumed to be an advantage, but that starts to look questionable as her captivity drags on and on.

Likewise, Beinin’s strong personality clearly often cut both ways. Yet, his brother, a further-left professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history is even more pronounced in his sympathies for the Palestinian cause. Frankly, many families of hostages would be uncomfortable with either brother speaking on their behalf. However, Yehuda Beinin seems to understand this, at least to an extent.

Obviously, viewers immediately sympathize and identify with the Atzili and Beinin family. What they endure is horrible to even imagine. That said, Kramer missed the opportunity to probe Beinin (or his brother) on any of their forcefully expressed opinions—in a genuinely curious, nonconfrontational way. In fact, they might have had interesting answers for questions like “how do you work towards peace with people who’d rather continue killing” and “just who could be Israel’s partner for peace in Gaza?”