Bar Caspiershtein smiles and laughs as if he hadn’t spent the last two years in “hell,” as he calls it; his demeanor doesn’t betray the time he spent held captive by Hamas in Gaza. “I prefer to look at things with humor and laughter, enjoy life with my family, and look forward, not back,” the 23-year-old security guard, abducted from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, shared with CNN, mere hours before boarding a flight to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday. It was this determination that made him stay put during the terrorist attack, helping wounded festival-goers until he was eventually injured and kidnapped by Hamas militants. Despite the immense hardship he endured, he asserts he would do the same thing again. “I was responsible for the safety of everyone at the party,” he said. “If I ran away and saved myself, knowing others were there and I could help them—I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” Survivors call him a hero. “I was just doing my job,” he insists. This decision cost him 738 days. “In your mind, you count every day; that’s how you keep yourself busy,” he told CNN. In the beginning, as he recalls, blindfolded and forbidden to speak, counting the days was one of the few available activities. Days turned into weeks, months, two years. “There were times when they tried to execute us, when they starved us, when they subjected us to abuse—beatings, physically, verbally, depriving us of basic human conditions,” he shares. “You feel like the unhappiest person in the world.” “Just Get Through It” or “It Can’t Get Worse” While underground with five other hostages, in what he described as a “tiny dungeon,” Caspiershtein recalls a particularly brutal period following statements by the far-right Israeli Minister of Public Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, regarding Palestinian prisoners. “They came to us, beat and struck us, and when we asked why, they replied it was because of Ben-Gvir and because of our government,” he recounted. In April 2025, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Caspiershtein and another hostage, Nadav Popplewell, looking exhausted and distraught, pleading to be released home. “All I thought about was that my family should know I was alive, that’s all,” he said. “I didn’t care what they made me say; I would have said anything—just so my family could see me whole and unharmed, speaking.” In that hell, according to Caspiershtein, faith was his support. “God gave me the strength to be resilient. I sincerely believed and knew I would come out safe and sound,” he said. “From day one, I had this inner feeling. I constantly told myself not to give up and to stay strong—for the family—because one day I would get out and be Bar again. I told myself it couldn’t get worse than this—so I just had to endure it.” “I wasn’t very religious before this, only traditional, but in captivity, you truly connect with God, talk to Him. He saved me—not once or twice. Every day I remained alive was a miracle.” In captivity, Caspiershtein had very limited access to the outside world, only occasionally knowing what was happening. Even then, it was often information his captors wanted him to hear. But a radio receiver brought in to broadcast Quranic verses for the hostages provided them with an unexpected connection to the outside world. Caspiershtein managed to find an Israeli military radio station and receive news from home. “I remember waking up every morning, looking at the radio, and waiting to listen,” he says. “It’s truly a miracle. Imagine, you are 30 meters underground and listening to the radio.” A Father’s Fight for His Son Through this radio, he learned about his family’s efforts to secure his release. Caspiershtein’s father, Tal, was a former volunteer paramedic for Israel’s largest volunteer ambulance service, “United Hatzalah.” Three years before his son’s abduction, he suffered a severe stroke following a motorcycle accident. This accident made Bar, the eldest of five children, the family’s provider, who managed their falafel stand while working as an event security guard. He also followed in his father’s footsteps, volunteering as a paramedic. Center, Tal Caspiershtein, father of Bar Caspiershtein, speaks as family members and supporters of hostages abducted during the deadly October 7 attack stand near a kibbutz defense post on the day they speak with their captive loved ones across the border between Israel and Gaza, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, April 20, 2025. Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters “I saw my father sometimes at demonstrations; they even brought me a photo of him standing at a rally,” Caspiershtein recounts. “I also heard that my mother organized a birthday celebration for me at Hostages Square.” He didn’t believe he would be released until the very last minute. “There were so many deals that didn’t go through, so we thought this was just another one that wouldn’t happen, that something would fall through,” he said. “Even when I was being driven home, I didn’t believe we were actually getting out.” Now he is heading to the Oval Office, where the U.S. President invited all 20 recently released hostages. Caspiershtein, who calls Trump a “messenger of God,” plans to thank him first. “God said we needed to get out of there, and he was that messenger,” he says. “He played a big role in our release.” When asked if he believes in peace, Caspiershtein is reserved. “Personally, yes, but after these two years I spent there, I know the other side is not interested in peace at all, so no matter how much we as a state want peace—I don’t think it’s possible with Hamas.” He describes himself now as an “upgraded version” of who he was before, and says returning to Israel feels like a daily dream. “Every day there is the delight of waking up here in the morning—not there, in the tunnels—and being alive and breathing,” he says. “I thank God for that every day.” Nevertheless, behind the smiles and laughter lie remaining wounds. “Of course, there are moments when I can’t sleep at night because of heavy thoughts, and the need arises to go out and get some fresh air,” he admits. “Sometimes I find myself in situations where I see everyone around happy, and I’m just as usual, and it’s not real joy.” He tries to “surround myself with a loving, supportive environment so as not to get into such situations and just be happy. It’s part of the process; I believe it will heal.”
About the Author
