
A year after the events that shook Israel to its core—and just before the names of the hostages set to be released were announced—Aviva Gat released her latest book, “We Will Dance Again.”
A fictionalized account based on true events, the novel follows the lives of six characters whose worlds are upended by tragedy: Tehila, preparing a family picnic in her southern kibbutz home; Dana, celebrating love with her boyfriend at an outdoor rave; Shai, a former counterterrorism soldier ready to defend his country for the sake of his young son; Alon, a politician and former chief of staff of the Israeli army; Aisha, desperately awaiting the return of her twins, who were arrested by the Israeli military; and Ethan, a Harvard freshman struggling to understand the conflict—until he himself becomes a target on campus.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Gat moved to Israel 11 years ago, where she got married and had four children. “My father was born in Israel and moved to the U.S in his twenties. We visited Israel often and I always loved it here. After I went to Israel as part of ‘Masa’ program, I decided that this is where I want to be,” she said in a phone interview from her home in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks, she channeled her emotions into writing. Exactly one year later, she self-published her book.
Though she had self-published before, this time she sought a traditional publisher—only to find that many were reluctant to take on a book with Jewish themes due to rising antisemitism.
“I was told the manuscript was ‘engaging’ and ‘well-written’ but ‘not sellable in the current market,’” Gat said. “Publishers are afraid of backlash for publishing Jewish books.”
Though she wasn’t directly affected by the terrorists attacks on Israel, she said she was traumatized by them, like many people in Israel.
“Writing has helped me process my trauma, and I want to contribute something to my amazing country. So I decided to use my talents as a storyteller and writer to tell the world what happened on that horrible day and after.”
Gat remembers exactly what she did when the sirens started, signaling the beginning of the war. “A year later, I can’t brush my teeth without feeling anxiety. It’s almost like I have PTSD, but we aren’t yet post-trauma.”
Gat explained why she chose to write a fictionalized account rather than a nonfiction book about the victims of October 7.
“I wanted to include multiple stories rather than focus on a single narrative,” she said. “I tried to weave together different people’s experiences to create the most impactful story possible. Also, I didn’t want it to be strictly nonfiction because my expertise is in fiction writing—there are others who are better suited to telling nonfiction stories.”
While Israelis have been inundated with firsthand accounts—stories of hostages, grieving families and those injured in the war—the outside world has not. For Gat, it was crucial that people see beyond the headlines and statistics. She wanted them to understand the personal toll, to see how, in an instant, ordinary lives had turned into a scene from a horror film.
“People around the world read the news, but they don’t know what it’s like to be at ground zero,” she said. “I hoped that by writing this book, I could give readers a deeper perspective — help them truly understand what people here are experiencing.”
Gat had previously written about a dozen books, including thrillers and “My Family Survival,” which is based on her grandmother’s experience during the Holocaust.
Still, she considers “We Will Dance Again” her most important work. As she often does, she shared advance copies with a group of readers in the U.S. to gauge their reactions. They were captivated by the story, giving it five-star reviews.
Although Gat didn’t conduct interviews for this book, she closely followed the news, read articles and watched interviews with released hostages, their families and survivors of the Nova festival. Some readers will easily recognize parallels between her characters and real people—such as Tehila, a mother of two young boys, who bears a striking resemblance to Shiri Bibas and her sons, Ariel, 4 and Kfir, 9 months (their age at the time of their kidnapping).
As of now, the story of the hostages remains unresolved. Israel announced an agreement with Hamas for the release of 33 hostages, with three already released. Shiri and her children’s names are among them, but it is still uncertain whether they are alive or not.
“Last January when I started writing the book, I didn’t know how it was going to end, I was hoping for a happy ending, but as time passed I realized it’s going to take time. Once the war ends, I’ll write a sequel, and hopefully this time, it will have a happy ending.”
“We Will Dance Again” is available for purchase on Amazon