Hearing discourse on the price of the hostage deal while in Gaza captivity was difficult, but it also granted hope, released hostage Agam Berger told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN on Tuesday.
“It’s not anyone’s fault that they were kidnapped; people need to know that they are fighting for us,” she stated. “It’s like saying that our lives aren’t worth enough,” Berger, who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base on October 7, noted.
“On the other hand, we heard people say that Israel was able to pay the price of the deal, and it gave us strength.”
However, she stated that following Operation Arnon, which saw the rescue of Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan, and Andrey Kozlov in June, the radio was taken away from her and fellow IDF observer Liri Albag, who was often with her in captivity.
The captors “were always anxious, and after the rescue, it worsened,” she stated.
In January of last year, she received two prayer books and a Maariv newspaper, which she said “provided answers to some unresolved questions” regarding what happened during the October 7 massacre.
With regard to her captors, Berger said, “There were some who were with us for a long time, but then they were replaced. It depended a lot on the time period. Even those who treated us well would argue with us over small things and reprimand us.”
She shared the feelings of despair she felt while in captivity. “I always tried to believe that in the end, we would be released. But I was hoping to be out before my brother’s bar mitzvah. When I wasn’t released, it was hard.”
Berger's release
Following the release of Albag, along with IDF observers Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, and Daniella Gilboa on January 25, Berger remained in captivity by herself.
She was told she would be released two days prior to the event. “I told myself that I was here alone after a year and a half. I asked myself, ‘Is there a ceasefire? Am I going home?’ I believed it, but it was a surprise to hear that in two days, I’d be home – it felt strange. I thought it would take another month,” she noted, adding, “I couldn’t sleep that night from excitement.”
She added that she and Albag had notebooks with drawings, which they were not allowed to take with them. “They didn’t let us take anything,” Berger said.
The morning of her release, a week following that of fellow IDF observers, she was dressed in a hijab above the IDF uniform she was told to wear. “They drove me around for two hours, gave me a ‘gift,’ and asked me to record thank-you videos for them. At that moment, I couldn’t tell them the truth to their faces. I did what I could, and I didn’t care – as long as I was freed.”
With regard to an October 7 probe, Berger stated, “It’s important that everything is investigated, not just for me, but for those who gave their lives that day and to ensure that those who need to be held accountable are held accountable.”