Captivity survivor Omer Shem Tov: 'Division in the nation gives strength to our enemies'

Omer Shem Tov, released after 505 days in Hamas captivity, calls for unity in Israel during meeting with President Herzog: 'They talk about how we are destroying ourselves from within.'

President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog yesterday, Monday, welcomed to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, former hostage Omer Shem Tov, together with his mother Shelly.

Omer was taken hostage on October 7, from the Nova Featival, and survived 505 days in captivity.

President Herzog said: “We’re so happy to see Omer back. Just about a month ago he returned back home, after going through hell in Gaza. What he says and what he describes about the torment and the enormous pain, the agony and the torture - this is something that every human being should listen to. The lesson is loud and clear: we want to see all our sons and daughters back, immediately, till the last one of them.“

Omer thanked the President and stressed: “I only have just one message: to bring everyone home as soon as possible, they are going through hell."

He emphasized the need for unity within Israel, stating: "One thing I can ask of the people of Israel, unity, unity, unity. This is also the message that my mother adopted throughout this entire period. The times they broadcast television for the captives, they showed the division in the people, and they showed it in the most extreme way possible. And that strengthens them significantly - they talk about how Israel will destroy itself and that's what gives them strength."

Shelly, Omer’s mother, said: “No mother - anywhere in the world - should feel as we felt, and there are still mothers that feel this hell. We have to bring them back home, and so no to terror. This is our mission and commitment.”

First Lady Michal Herzog added: “We as an Israel society will not be whole again and we won’t be able to start our rehabilitation as a society until we have them all back, those alive and those dead as well, because we need certainty for the families.“

President Herzog concluded by noting: “The international community must disseminate a clear rule: taking hostage, abducting people, leaving them like this without even giving information about their situation, is totally unacceptable by any norms of humanity.”