Ex-captive Omer Shem Tov calls on PM to bring back all the hostages at once, even if it means ending war

Omer Shem Tov, who was released from Hamas captivity in February as part of the Gaza truce that Israel ended last month, calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a protest in Tel Aviv to “make the brave, Zionist, Jewish, human step” and bring back the remaining 59 captives from Gaza in a single release even at the price of a halt to the fighting in the Strip.

“Now. In a single release,” says Shem Tov. “And if that means ending the war, then end the war,” he adds, noting that opinion polls show a large majority of the public would support the move.

“When I was there, in captivity, I experienced psychological terrorism,” says Shem Tov. “They told me Israel was falling apart, that our society was disintegrating, that the enmity, schisms and division were empowering Hamas.”

Shem Tov says he didn’t believe his captors, and that when he returned, he saw “we have a strong, united nation.” He thanks the Hostages Square crowd, saying he saw their rallies while in captivity.

Shem Tov says that a week ago, when singing at the Passover seder about how the ancient Israelites broke free of slavery in Egypt, he understood “the significance of this holiday. The significance of this nation. The significance of this state. And that significance is freedom: mine, my family’s, my friends’.”

“But that freedom won’t be whole without freedom for my brothers who remain in Gaza,” he says.