“I am Omer Shem Tov, and I am a free man”
Over 1,500 supporters under 40 filled three sold-out UIA Young Leadership events in Sydney and Melbourne to hear returned hostage Omer Shem Tov share his story of 505 days in Hamas captivity – and to back Shavim, UIA’s early-intervention program preventing PTSD and rebuilding resilience across Israel.
Omer Shem Tov
Whilst the audience gathered with an expectation of hearing an inspiring story of survival and resilience, what they weren’t expecting was the humour, the light, and, ultimately, the hope that Omer shared with each person. Whilst he did not sanitise the horror and spoke of surviving the intense torture and then isolation in tunnels, utilising his instinctive strategy of reading a room he should never have been in, he also shared moments of frank humour that gave us a deeper insight into what type of person he needed to be to walk through hell and come out singing.
When speaking of the public spectacle of his staged release, he started by saying, “yes, it was scary…I could see the real hate in their eyes but I was so happy to go back home. I didn’t see the crowd. I just saw my way home.” He even joked about walking across the stage to receive his “Hamas graduation certificate,” and being forced to kiss the heads of his captors. “The cameraman comes up to me and he told me, kiss his forehead and I hesitated and then, he tells me again, forcefully, kiss his forehead NOW. So I said to myself, I’m gonna kiss his head and then I’m going to go back home. It doesn’t matter to me…. if he liked the kiss or if he didn’t like the kiss.” That humorous element, so unexpected in such a traumatic storytelling, it catches audiences off guard – and in doing so it opens people’s hearts.
Omer described tiny acts of defiance and big acts of faith, his daily prayers and a quiet pact with Hashem. “Every day I woke up and said Modeh Ani. I thanked G-d for the breath in my lungs, for the food on my plate – for everything I have and everything I don’t have.” In the tunnels, he learned Arabic, gathered details, and stayed alive by doing whatever it took to ingratiate himself with his captors – he even described himself as having become their “go-to handyman in the tunnels.”
It’s so clear from the telling of this story and even from the footage we all watched across the globe of his release that, despite his captors’ best efforts, they never broke Omer’s spirit or his love for his people. They did not even come close. He talks about how, in the helicopter ride, minutes after crossing back into Israel, he wrote on a whiteboard, “everything is okay now. Thank you to the brave soldiers and to Am Yisrael… P.S. I want a burger.” When he made it to the hospital soon after, thousands of burgers were waiting for him.
Omer tells the whole story with such poise and charisma, but you can really see the raw emotion when he gets to talking about his reunion with his parents, “the door opens. I see my mum and dad. We run. We hug. We cry. My mum says, ‘My life, my life, you’re safe now.’” And in turn, he says to them, “are you okay? What do you need?”
In Melbourne, when Omer was asked by moderator Zoe Fried why he had made the telling of his experience his life’s mission and continues to do so even now that all the living hostages have returned, his answer was enlightening. “People come up to me and say, ‘Because of you, I believe again… I have hope.’ If I can spread light, I’ll do it. It’s a purpose. And to be here to raise funds for those that sacrificed to so much to save me – that’s a blessing.”
Omer was referring to how the events were designed to raise funds for Shavim, a national early-intervention program delivered with UIA partners to prevent PTSD before it takes hold – for Israelis returning to civilian life and their families. It’s practical. It’s clinical and right now it is absolutely urgent.
“Shavim gives people tools before trauma becomes their identity,” said Caroline Sakinofsky, President UIA Victoria Young Leadership. “It’s evidence-based therapy, family sessions and resilience training so those who have served can find their footing again. We’re moving from crisis to rebuild – body, mind and community.”
Caroline also set the tone for the room. “Tonight isn’t just another Israel event. It’s a milestone. After two years of heartbreak, we can finally exhale a little and look forward together. We are the generation that says Hineini – here I am – and together we’ll carry the rebuild.”
In Sydney, Co-Chair UIA NSW Young Leadership Sam Goldberg echoed, “As Young Leadership, it’s our responsibility, our communal duty, to carry that strength forward. To lead with courage. To give with purpose. To make sure our people are never alone. We are the next generation of community leadership, and this is our moment to step up, lead, and give in our own right.”
As these events underscored, with the living hostages home, the work is not over. Our mission is not complete, it just changes shape. From sirens to therapy rooms. From emergency appeals to long-term resilience. Shavim sits alongside UIA’s wider rebuild agenda with Communities2Gether in the south, absorption and employment for new Olim, and care for the elderly through Amigour – all focused on restoring stability and dignity for all of the People of Israel.
Omer’s presence made that shift real. The room heard about his and his friend’s terror, we heard how Ori Danino Z”l who had only met Omer hours before Nova, had escaped but then turned around and drove back to rescue Omer and his friends –how he too was taken hostage – and 11 months later brutally murdered as one of the ’beautiful 6’ in August 2024.
But then, we also heard tenderness, gratitude, humour and faith. “One day my friend Itay said, ‘We’re not going home. We are going to die here.’ That night I spoke to Hashem and I prayed for Itay to believe again,” Omer recalled. “The next morning the first thing he said to me is, ‘We ARE going home. I believe it with all my heart.’ Two weeks later, he was free.”
Indeed, that’s the point. For our Young Leadership, belief is a strategy. We know that hope and care, rebuilds lives.
Taking our cue from heroes like Omer – Young Leadership will keep the momentum going. The community ask is simple and concrete: fund more Shavim programs, extend capacity for family sessions, and scale early-intervention so a generation is not defined by their trauma. Because when a 23-year-old can stand up after 505 days in hell and declare to the world, “I am Omer Shem Tov and I’m a free man!” then rest of us can stand up too, and make sure thousands more feel the same.
To find out about our upcoming Young Leadership events follow @uiayl in NSW and @youngleadershipuiavic in Victoria or to donate to Shavim visit uiaaustralia.org.au/project/shavim
