From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 23, 2025
Ex-hostage Eli Sharabi’s autobiography sets Israeli record for fastest-selling book
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Released hostage Eli Sharabi, speaking during an online ceremony on Monday to receive the Golden Book Award for breaking the Israeli record for the fastest-selling book with his recent autobiography, “Hostage,” says that books and language can be tools for survival.
Sharabi, who was released from Hamas captivity four months ago, tells about being held captive for months with Alon Ohel, Eliya Cohen and Or Levy, and how they taught Cohen how to speak and read English during that time by reading the only book they had, a novel by American author Leigh Bardugo.
“We taught Eliya English and he read the book a few times, he learned English in captivity,” says Sharabi. “It shows how much our survival mattered.”
Sharabi, 52, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas onslaught. His wife Lianne and daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered. His brother Yossi was also kidnapped and murdered by his captors, who still hold his body.
Sharabi was held in Hamas captivity for 491 days and was released on February 8 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the US.
“Hostage,” published by Sella Meir Publishing House, was written over two months and is the first memoir published by a released hostage. Sharabi says that he wrote the book quickly in order to tell his story, and in the hopes it would help those still held hostage.
“I wrote it to show how much you can choose the cards in your hand, you can make the choice to live and how to live,” says Sharabi, speaking from London where he and his brother Sharon have been stranded since their flight home to Israel was diverted due to the conflict with Iran.
Sharabi says he wrote the book to describe the experience of captivity so readers would understand what he and other hostages experienced and what is still happening to hostages still in Hamas captivity, which includes Alon Ohel, 23, who was left behind when his three cellmates were released.
“I can’t stop thinking about them and acting for them, so that they come home, and they will,” says Sharabi.
Sharabi thanks the Israeli public for reading the book, which sold 20,000 copies in one week, and which will be translated into other languages in order to reach a wide a public as possible.
“Books — more than films, TV series or plays — are able to relate the true circumstances of a situation,” says Sharabi.
The Times of Israel Community.