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Nearly a year and a half after the outbreak of the war, British lawmakers this week published an extensive report detailing the Hamas-led massacre on October 7 and attacks by other terrorist organizations on the first day of the war. “The purpose of this report is to clearly and accurately document the events of October 7, to ensure they are never forgotten,” said Lord Andrew Roberts, the historian who served as the lead author.
However, Michael Marlowe, father of hostage Jake Aharon Marlowe — who was murdered at the Nova music festival and mentioned in the report — harshly criticized the report and the treatment his family has received from the British government in an interview with Ynet. "We feel very much alone here in the UK. We feel very much at home in Israel," Michael shared.
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Oct 7th report: The youngest victim and the last message from the Nova scurity staff
(Video: Yaron Brener)
"Our government has been incredibly cold to us. They’ve been very unhelpful," said Michael, a British citizen. "They’re ice cold — one could say inhuman — compared to the Israeli consulate here in London, which embraced us with warmth and friendship.
“Even the report we read yesterday—we were not even told about it. I was only given a heads-up by a friend. I see this report, and my thoughts are with you. Which report? And they are so stupid, they didn’t even have the courtesy to tell us anything. They didn’t inform us that it was coming out, that it’s 315 pages long or that we’re mentioned in it.”
Michael expressed his frustration with the published report: "There’s an awful lot of holes, awful lot of wrongs in there. It’s basically childish in the way they’ve done it. They’ve copied and pasted basically from Google. I’m not a great fan of it. I wouldn't say it's meaningless, but it was put together through Google. It wasn't done properly."
The UK’s Foreign Ministry also wasn't spared from criticism. Michael noted, "To this day, our apparent foreign office have never told us the amount, the number of British families involved. we are left alone here by our abhorrent, horrible, horrendous foreign office.”
Michael also shared his encounter with the British ambassador to Israel days after the massacre, adding, “I flew to Israel on October 10 to search for Jake. On October 11, the ambassador came to my apartment. He knocked on the door, came in, and was quite friendly, but I can’t remember his name.”
“He said, ‘I have news about your son.’ I looked at him and said, ‘Jake is a British citizen. Yes, I know he’s Israeli now. It’s your responsibility to find him and bring him back to us.’ He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, through their Norwegian counterparts and photo recognition, they believed Jake was a hostage in Gaza. He promised constant contact. We hugged, shook hands and he left,” he added.
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Three hours later, two IDF soldiers arrived. “They sat on the balcony, and one soldier said, ‘Michael, I have news about your son.’ Of course, I knew. She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Your son is dead.’
Michael spoke of his expectations from the ambassador, which were ultimately unfulfilled: "Any person with a heart would have called to express condolences. He never did. The only time he reached out was last October for a ‘semi-fake’ memorial for hostages. Why would we go after a year of no contact? They didn’t pay for anything. They’re abhorrent and awful.”
Jake grew up in the UK, and Michael described his son's journey before deciding to make aliyah to Israel: “He was a unique character with a wonderful personality. A gifted musician who toured the world with his band, he returned to Israel to reconnect with family and friends. He saw pro-Palestinian protests in London on social media — cars with flags, voices blaring threats against our people.”
Michael noted, "It resonated with Jake. He said, ‘Mom, Dad, I’m making a deal.’ He fell in love with Israel and its people. He worked with Shlomi Ziv on unarmed security at Nova. Sadly, Aviv [Ziv’s cousin] was murdered that day.”
Michael recounted Jake's final moments, as told to him through witness testimonies: “Jake was heroic, shepherding people to safety until he was cut down by bullets. His last message to us was at 6:29 a.m.: ‘Mum, Dad, I love you. I’ll call you back.’ That call never came.”
In closing, Michael sought to send a reassuring message from the UK: "Don’t worry — despite the pro-Palestinian marches in Britain, we have many friends who love Israel. Jake’s soul is in Israel. We feel safer there than here. We just came back last week. Israel is home.”