Japanese Minister at Kfar Aza: ‘Horror’ Not a Sufficient Word to Describe Oct. 7 Massacre

By Aryeh Stern

​Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana toured Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Wednesday together with Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kiyoto Tsuji.

Amid scenes of destruction in the kibbutz, and with sounds of military aircraft heard constantly in the background, Minister Tsuji said, “’Horror’ is not a sufficient word… This is an act of barbaric terror that cannot be kept. And Japan – you have our word for this – is with Israel in this cause to stop this terror.”

Ohana thanked Tsuji and the Japanese government for their support and solidarity with Israel, expressed by, among other things, the termination of funding for​ UNRWA.

“I know that you were moved by what you have seen and witnessed with your own eyes,” Ohana said to his guest. “It’s different when you hear the numbers and the aftermath and then you see it, and you get to listen to the stories.”

The two spoke with Kfar Aza resident Shahar Shnorman, who was the first to return to the kibbutz after the attacks of Oct. 7. The group also visited the site where the head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, the late Ofir Liebstein, Hy”d, was murdered, pausing beside a pillar pierced with bullet holes.

At the end of their meeting, Ohana said, “Iran is the one that financed, trained, and pushed Hamas to carry out the massacre. Hamas also used weapons originating from North Korea. The world cannot afford another North Korea in the form of Iran.”​