‘Don’t be afraid to be Jewish or hide who you are’

When people talk about being a celebrity, I reply that I don’t feel like that at all. I’m not a celebrity. I’m just a familiar person now, and not for good reasons. My life has changed 180 degrees, and I didn’t expect that. I didn’t want it. But this is what happened, and I’m doing my best.

For the past nine months since my release I’ve tried to help the remaining hostages. Every lecture, every interview, the book I wrote – it was all part of that. And it helped me too. It was like therapy. It is important to me to talk about my family and share my testimony. Everything is happening very fast, but I never say it’s happening to me. I choose to do it. Maybe in a few months it will all calm down – when the book tours and the talks slow down, then I can start to build a new life. A good life, I hope.

Since my release in February I’ve met many people – presidents, prime ministers, ministers; but they are all just human beings. I just tried to do my best in each situation and bring my logic, experiences and opinion. If I think about who made the most significant impression on me it is Steve Witkoff (US Special Envoy to the Middle East under Donald Trump). Witkoff was very emotional and, after sitting together for two hours, it was absolutely clear how much he really cared about the hostages and their families. He even gave me his personal number, saying I could call him any time. You don’t see that often. That warmth from him is what touched me.

Of course, I will always thank President Trump for helping to secure my release and for what he did to help the other hostages and stop the war.

People cry when they meet me, but they don’t need to. I’m fine. I really am. I know how lucky I am to be alive and I am grateful for that every day. I know Chanukah will bring up a lot of memories. My wife Lianne wasn’t Jewish, but our daughters, Noiya and Yahel, grew up knowing both worlds. Lianne wasn’t religious – she was an atheist – but she loved Chanukah. We would light the candles, sing songs, and sometimes fly to England to spend Christmas with her parents. It was not about presents. It’s about being with family and when the holidays coincided, we would light Chanukah candles in her parents’ home . I will really miss that. Miss them.

This year, I plan to be in Israel for Chanukah with my family and then fly to England to spend Christmas with Lianne’s parents and brothers. It will be special.

Chanukah is the Festival of Lights, and for me the word ‘light’ now means something different. Light is special in life when there is loads of it. Being held underground – 50 metres deep for 16 months in total darkness – there were times I thought I would never see light again. Rather than get depressed, I began to understand that it doesn’t really matter where you are; even if it’s very dark in a very tough time, the point of light is that it’s inside you and you realise how precious life is. That helped me survive.

I found faith again. I grew up in a traditional home – synagogue on Fridays, Kiddush but, on October 7, when the terrorists pushed me into the car to kidnap me, I started to say the Shema. Every morning in captivity I prayed. And the four of us hostages waited for Friday and kept a quarter of pita bread to do the blessing on the food. It was a special moment that gave us strength. To survive in captivity, you try to find any source that gives you strength. I’m not a religious man, but I have faith now and I’ll keep it.

When all this slows down, I want my life to mean something again. I want to help children who can’t afford it to have extra lessons in mathematics and teach them myself. As I said, I’m trying to find new meaning in my life.

Going into 2026, my message for the Jewish community is: don’t take fear with you. Don’t be afraid to be Jewish or hide who you are. Walk proudly. It’s 2025, not the 1940s. Jews should feel safe in their own countries. I say this to the prime ministers, foreign secretaries and presidents I meet, because they need to take responsibility and speak out strongly against antisemitism. I’m not diplomatic; I don’t have to be. I just tell them the truth.

My wish is that Jews all over the world will feel secure again – that this time of hate will end.

The single word I choose to take into 2026 is ‘appreciation’. It is the most powerful for me. I learnt the hard way to appreciate basic things and to appreciate freedom. And ‘freedom’ will also be my word – because it’s priceless. You don’t understand that until the day it’s taken from you.

Hostage by Eli Sharabi is published by Swift Press and is available now