Israeli President Rivlin at a rally for the missing Israeli teens. Photo: Rivlin's Facebook page.

TEL AVIV – Israel’s newly elected president Reuven Rivlin called upon world leaders and religious figures to pray for the return of the three kidnapped Israeli boys at a massive prayer rally at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square this Sunday evening, June 29.

“The call for the safety of these boys doesn’t have to come just from synagogues and yeshivas; it must also come from halls of prayer from every religion – from churches and mosques, especially during the Ramadan period,” Rivlin stated at the event, where hundreds of people wore t-shirts with pictures of the missing boys.

Thousands of Israelis came together in a moving rally of support, prayer, and solidarity for Naftali Frankel, 16, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gilad Sha’ar, 16, who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists nearly two weeks ago at the Gush Etzion Junction in Judea on their way home from school. Top Israeli musicians also sang at the event and the windows of the Tel Aviv city hall had the names of the missing boys spelled out.

Rachel Frankel, mother of Naftali Frankel, spoke at the rally, asking that the three boys “not be used for bargaining chips.”

“Somewhere out there in the night, there are three boys who know there’s no chance that we’ll give up,” Frankel told the crowd.