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Jewish American social media influencer Ariel Martin, known as “Baby Ariel,” visited Israel this week on a trip organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), touring southern communities devastated by the October 7th massacre and meeting with Israelis impacted by the attack, including family members of hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Being in Israel this week has been the most powerful and important experience of my life,” Martin posted in an Instagram Story on Thursday. “I’ve met and listened to the stories of the strongest, bravest people. I am so looking forward to sharing this trip with you.”
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Martin said, “Because I spend my days fighting with people, arguing with people, and I wanted to just experience it for myself, and the number one thing I’ve seen since I arrived is how diverse Israel is, genuinely accepting of everyone.”
At the start of her Israel visit, Martin traveled to the Gaza border area, touring Kibbutz Be’eri, the towns of Sderot and Ofakim, and the Bedouin city of Rahat.
She also was taken to the site of the Nova music festival, where more than 360 partygoers were murdered by Hamas terrorists and at least 40 more kidnapped to Gaza.
“These kids were the most peaceful, loving people, who just wanted to dance…the most loving beautiful people who went to this festival,” Martin told The Jerusalem Post. “I absolutely do identify with them. That’s the thing I want to get across, having an audience that is so young, 16, 17, 18, of an age to go to these kinds of festival, it’s not a political issue, it’s a humanitarian issue. These people are kids. And it’s important for people to understand that it could have been anybody.”
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Later in her trip, Martin stopped at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv and met with members of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
While in Israel, she also visited historical and holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall.
“Literally, everything we’ve seen on this trip has been so powerful and so important that I don’t want to leave, I want to talk to everybody forever,” she told The Jerusalem Post. “Coming after October 7 and seeing the way the Israeli people came together…Every single place we’ve been to, they have talked to us about civilians who stepped up. You know, if the IDF wasn’t there right away or the police couldn’t be there, civilians stepped up like in two seconds to support their people. Seeing so much love and unity and the bravery of everybody in the face of something so horrific was inspiring.”
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