Former hostage Elkana Bohbot recalls how faith, family helped him survive Hamas captivity

Former Hamas hostage Elkana Bohbot described how his determination to reunite with his wife and son, along with his religious faith, helped him survive captivity in Gaza, in an IDF podcast featuring Lt.-Col. (res.) Tamar Aviv, the officer who supported his family throughout his captivity.

"First of all, what kept me going there, more than anything, was the belief that I would see my son Re'em again, my wife and my family," he said.

Bohbot explained that he was determined not to give Hamas the satisfaction of seeing him give up.

"I would do everything I can to come back and show them what resilience and renewal really mean. To show them that we're here and we're going to stay here. There's nothing you can do about it.”

Bohbot also said he continued observing religious practices during captivity, starting each morning with prayers of gratitude for surviving another day and saying Kiddush on Friday night and Saturday.

"Even when the terrorist was right next to me, literally right next to me, I would quietly recite my Kiddush and preserve my identity. Absolutely," he said.

Elkana Bohbot recalls his first meeting with Tamar Aviv after his release

Describing the moments following his return from captivity, Bohbot recalled being surrounded by IDF soldiers and struggling to recognize the people around him, including Aviv.

"Only later, when she got into the helicopter with me, did I understand who Tamar was," Bohbot said. "My mother told me, 'Meet Tamar. She's been accompanying us for two years,' and it immediately clicked."

Aviv, who had spent more than two years supporting Bohbot's family, said the meeting marked the culmination of a deeply personal mission.

She explained that she initially knew Bohbot only through a photograph but gradually came to know him through conversations with his relatives and friends.

"It is no longer just a mission. It becomes something emotional. I don't actually know him. We've never met, but I have tremendous love for him, concern and anxiety," she said.

Aviv described the prayers and anticipation that accompanied the long period of uncertainty, saying her own religious faith had strengthened during that time.

"But the moment we received the report at Re'im that they had reached him and that he was, so to speak, with us, that was the moment I truly felt an enormous release of tension and overwhelming excitement," she said about the day he was released by Hamas.

The emotional toll of accompanying a hostage's family

Aviv said she had been responsible for supporting Bohbot's entire extended family throughout his captivity, including his parents, wife, son Re'em, siblings, and sisters-in-law.

Her role involved maintaining constant contact with relatives, arranging meetings with military and government officials, providing intelligence updates, and helping families manage everyday needs.

"Things happen along the way that we don't want the family to wake up in the morning and discover on the news," she said, explaining that she was responsible for updating relatives, even in the middle of the night.

Aviv described the emotional difficulty of becoming so familiar with someone she had never met, without knowing whether he would return.

"You're learning about someone who isn't here, and you don't even know whether he's ever coming back."

One of the greatest challenges, she said, was supporting Bohbot's young son, Re'em, who was growing up without his father.

She recalled a video Bohbot's wife, Rivka, sent her showing three-year-old Re'em sitting on his bed, looking at a picture of his father and pleading for him to return.

Aviv said she struggled to answer Re'em's questions about his father's absence while shielding him from the full reality of captivity.