Former Israeli hostage Shem Tov says Israeli division empowers Hamas in meeting with President Herzog

The former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov who met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during the weekend, warned the Israeli public that the terrorist organization Hamas is empowered by divisions within Israeli society. 

“They showed the division in the most extreme way possible,” Shem Tov said.

“It gives them strength – they talk about how Israel will destroy itself from within, and that’s what empowers them," he continued. 

The Israeli president, who has himself been warning about the dangers of internal conflicts in Israel’s politically fragmented society, agreed with Shem Tov's assessment. 

“Each time we confront one another, and every time decisions draw us into a vortex of internal conflict, it tears us apart. That is extremely dangerous,” Herzog stated. The president urged the Israeli government to intensify its efforts to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. 

“We have brothers who are 40 meters underground – how can we breathe while they’re 40 meters deep? We must bring them home and make every effort until the last one returns,” Herzog vowed. 

Shem Tov concurred with the Israeli president’s sentiment. 

“We must bring everyone home,” he said. “If I can ask one thing of the people of Israel – it’s unity, unity, unity. That was also the message my mother carried throughout this time," he urged the Israeli public. 

His mother Shelly Shem Tov also emphasized the need for Israeli unity in the face of multi-front threats to country. 

“I used to say that our beauty is in our lack of unity, but our strength is in our unity,” she argued. 

She urged both Israeli leaders and citizens to display national responsibility and act as role models for unity. 

“Omer told us that when they see us fighting each other, it fuels them. The responsibility lies with the country’s leadership – just as we model behavior for our children as parents, our leaders must model unity. At the same time, it's also the personal responsibility of each and every one of us as citizens,” Shelly Shem Tov concluded. 

Herzog concluded by placing the hostages in the context of the upcoming Jewish Passover holiday that celebrates freedom from slavery in ancient Egypt. 

“We always say: don’t judge your fellow until you’ve stood in their place,” the president said. “We’ll never fully understand the hell you and your fellow captives went through – or that many are still enduring. We can only pray that this ends, and that everyone returns. Passover is coming – the holiday of freedom, of spring, of hope. We want to see them home,” Herzog stated. 

Earlier this month Shem Tov, who hails from the secular Israeli coastal city Herzliya, revealed that he screamed to God to help him out of the Gaza captivity. 

"On the 50th day, when I was on the verge of complete despair, after five days in total darkness, when all I had left to eat was one biscuit a day with a little salty water to drink, I screamed to God to get me out of there because I couldn't take it anymore," Shem Tov recalled. 

"Five minutes later, my captor came and told me I was being moved to another place," he continued. 

Shem Tov revealed that during the long captivity, he learned to appreciate even the smallest improvements in the difficult living conditions in Hamas’ subterranean tunnels. 

"Thank God, in the new tunnel I had light, and the amount of food increased," he stated. 

There are currently some 59 hostages left in Gaza. Israeli intelligence has estimated that 24 of them may still be alive, while their families warn that time is running out to secure their release while they are still alive.