Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Former hostage Segev Kalfon prays at Western Wall with father

The 27-year-old was kidnapped by Gazan terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival.

Segev Kalfon
Segev Kalfon. Credit: Courtesy of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Hostage survivor Segev Kalfon on Wednesday night visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem for the first time since his release from captivity in Gaza.

Segev Kalfon, 27, was accompanied by his father, Kobi, who blessed him with the priestly blessings (Numbers 6:24-26), as Jewish fathers do for their children every Friday night according to tradition.

The former abductee was kidnapped by Gazan terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Supernova music festival that was held near Kibbutz Re’im, adjacent to the Gaza Strip. In February, his family received a sign of life for Kalfon through a hostage who had been released.

Kalfon was returned to Israel by the Hamas terrorist group on Oct. 13, together with the remaining 19 other living hostages as part of the ceasefire deal, having endured 738 days of captivity.

Watch Kalfon at the Western Wall below.

“Today is not primary day, but I think today was progress day for JD Vance with the Jewish community,” said Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“It’s not about improving Israel’s image. It’s not about fighting back the media war,” Talia Dekel-Fleissig told JNS. “It’s about making sure that the public understands what’s actually going on.”
The film was also nixed by both of Australia’s national public broadcasters.
“We’re very proud Jews. We want to live like proud Jews,” a Toronto-area father told JNS.