After 471 days in captivity, Israeli hostages Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, who also holds British citizenship, have been released by Hamas, marking a poignant moment of relief and reunion. Their prolonged ordeal has left deep scars on their physical health and emotional well-being, underscoring the profound impact of extended captivity. As someone who has personally endured years of physical, emotional and mental torture resulting in complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and having grown up in a war zone, I deeply understand the layers of trauma they now face.

During the civil war years in Turkey in the late 1970s, I grew up amid constant gunfire, bombings and the fear of violence. My family’s home was next to a terrorist training building, and I vividly remember the terror of living under the shadow of gunshots and explosions. One unforgettable memory is being stuck in the middle of a battlefield with my mother, helpless and fearing for our lives. Next, we were walking in a lake of blood where dead bodies were lying. I was only 7 at the time. I remember staring at the eyes of a dying young man who was bleeding after his throat had been cut. Later in life, I faced another kind of war when I married a Muslim man who was physically, emotionally and mentally abusive. These experiences damaged and scarred me deeply. I was shaped into a survivor, but my healing journey also taught me the difference between survival and overcoming.

There is a significant difference between being a survivor and an overcomer. Survival is the ability to endure and make it through horrific circumstances. It is a state of resilience, strength and adaptability in the face of unimaginable hardship. For Emily, Romi and Doron, surviving their captivity was about enduring the day-to-day suffering, holding on to the hope of freedom and preserving their sense of self, despite the odds stacked against them.

Survival, however, is only the beginning. The transition to overcomer involves reclaiming life, joy and purpose after the trauma. Surviving is about making it through the nightmare. Overcoming is about not allowing the nightmare to define the rest of your life. It is about healing the wounds—physical, emotional and spiritual—that captivity inflicted and finding the courage to live beyond the shadow of that experience.

I’ve come to understand this distinction deeply. For years, I lived in survival mode, constantly replaying the horrors I endured and feeling trapped in fear and self-doubt. But there came a point when I had to make a choice: Would I let my trauma define me, or would I rise above it and reclaim my life? That meant facing the pain head-on, seeking help and choosing to see myself not as a victim but as someone capable of thriving beyond my circumstances. As it says in Psalms 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

During captivity, the hostages endured unimaginable physical hardships. Emily suffered the loss of two fingers on her left hand from gunshot wounds. Living on minimal food rations and in unsanitary conditions, they faced malnutrition and illness. Such challenges are tangible reminders of their survival, but the body can begin to heal with proper medical care and time.

The journey to overcoming, though, goes beyond physical recovery. It involves feeling strong in one’s body again, regaining confidence and embracing life with the fullness it offers. For these women, overcoming means not letting the scars on their bodies dictate the narrative of their lives, instead seeing them as testaments to their resilience.

The emotional scars left by captivity can be even harder to heal. Survivors often carry guilt, shame, fear and deep-seated trauma that make it difficult to move forward. For 471 days, these individuals lived in a state of hypervigilance, constantly questioning if they would survive another day. That level of psychological strain doesn’t disappear with freedom. It will require intentional work to address this lingering pain.

Becoming an overcomer is not about erasing the past but about integrating it into a new story. Emily, Romi and Doron are now at the beginning of this journey. They’ve survived a horrific experience, but they can work to overcome the impact of that trauma with the support of medical professionals, family, friends and their community.

Their story is a powerful reminder that while trauma may shape us, it does not have to define us. Overcoming is a choice, a daily commitment to rise above the darkness and embrace the light of a new beginning. For those of us who have faced trauma, the courage of these women serves as an inspiration. It reminds us that even in the aftermath of the most horrific storms, there is hope, healing and the possibility of a life filled with purpose and joy.

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As the city of Oświęcim, Poland, prepares to host dozens of survivors and dignitaries to commemorate 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27—annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day—its sole standing synagogue, the Auschwitz Jewish Center, will offer services, prayer and reflection, along with guided tours of its museum highlighting the history of the Jewish community there.

The Auschwitz Jewish Center will hold Shacharit morning prayer services at 9:30 a.m. in its historic building, once home to the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue. The service will be followed by the opportunity to explore the museum. Mincha, the afternoon service, will take place in the synagogue at 1 p.m., and Maariv, the evening prayer, will follow the official commemoration at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Before World War II and the Holocaust, Oświęcim was home to a vibrant Jewish community comprising more than 50% of the city’s population, with more than 30 synagogues. Today, the Auschwitz Jewish Center stands as the sole surviving shul from that time, serving as a museum and educational hub dedicated to combating hatred and bigotry.

Jack Simony, director general of Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, said “since we restored and reopened the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue 25 years ago, over 800,000 people have visited to learn about the dynamic Jewish community that once thrived in Oświęcim and to reflect on the dangers of bigotry and hate in the shadow of Auschwitz.”

Both the museum and synagogue will be open for tours and prayer from Jan. 24-26. For hours, see: ajcfus.org.

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Hamas announced the names of four hostages it plans to release on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel in the second round of exchanges in the ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

The terrorist group intends to free Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, Hamas’s pseudonymous spokesman Abu Obeida announced via Hamas-controlled media on Friday.

The four women were part of a military unit based at Nahal Oz on the Gaza border that Hamas overran on Oct. 7.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that it had received the list from Hamas and said it would comment later.

Israel, in turn, is expected to release some 200 Palestinian prisoners, including prisoners with life sentences.

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas was supposed to release female civilian hostages before releasing soldiers. One civilian woman, Arbel Yehoud, remains a hostage. It’s not clear if her exclusion from Saturday’s release will complicate the agreement.

Shiri Bibas, another female civilian hostage, was taken with her two children, and they are included on the list of the 33 hostages to be released. Hamas, however, claimed in November that they were killed.

Of the hostages whom Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7, 91 are currently in Gaza, including 30 who are believed to be dead. Hamas also holds three additional hostages taken before the 2023 attacks.

Hamas is expected to provide an update on Saturday on the status of the remaining hostages, and another five weeks of exchanges are expected as part of the first round of the ceasefire deal.

Jewish groups welcomed the news of the hostage release on Friday.

"While we eagerly await their return, we recognize the long road ahead after being held captive for so long by Hamas terrorists and under brutal conditions," the American Jewish Committee wrote.

Negotiations to implement the second phase of the ceasefire, which includes the release of the remaining hostages, a permanent cessation of hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, are slated to begin on Feb. 3.

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In November, the month before she released a report about the sexual violence that Hamas committed on Oct. 7, 2023, Yifat Bitton, an Israeli law professor, told JNS that the report would focus on “what people missed,” rather than the “hardcore evidence” the police would find.

JNS spoke with Bitton again on Jan. 19 about the report’s takeaways and what response it has drawn.

Bitton told JNS that diplomats and senior officials at the United Nations received her Jan. 16 presentation of the report well, despite the global body’s silence about the sorts of sexual crimes that Hamas committed on Oct. 7 detailed by her work.

“Due to the fact that my report was methodological and completed by an independent agent like myself as an expert in the field with a team of lawyers, who are not just Israeli feminists but global feminists, I was hopeful that the report would get more positive attention than was initially expected,” Bitton said.

“It is heartwarming to have seen that happen in real time,” she said. “It was important for them to understand the new trends of terrorism that are not particular to Israelis and Palestinians.”

“If it happened in Israel and we weren’t prepared for it, it can happen to other countries too,” she added.

As Israel continues to grapple with the aftermath of Hamas’s attacks, Bitton hopes the international community will acknowledge the extent of Hamas’s crimes.

Bitton told JNS that with hostages returning to Israel, “it’s becoming clearer what they endured.”

“This may create a new willingness to speak out about what happened, to recognize the reality of these crimes and to challenge the silence that’s persisted,” she said.

As Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, Bitton realized that evidence of the terror group’s crimes was disappearing in the chaos. Almost immediately, she set out to compile a report—what she would release last December as “Challenges in identifying and documenting sexual crimes committed during a terrorist attack”—which took 10 months to research.

The report draws on interviews with 40 first and secondary responders, who identified victims on that day and thereafter.

“The report emanated from the realization that regardless of the evidence that we did have to prove that sexual crimes were committed against Israelis on Oct. 7, it was still very clear that there was a gap between the amount of evidence that we were able to collect as a state, compared with the gravity and expansive nature of these crimes,” Bitton told JNS.

“I’m a law professor and also a litigating lawyer who has represented victims of sexual violence, and it was clear to me that evidence of assault had gotten lost under a terrorist attack of this type of magnitude,” she said.

Previously, experts assumed that sexual violence as a warfare tactic did not apply in a mass-casualty, terrorist attack, according to Bitton.

“The assumption is that either the terrorist organization has had a dominance over civilian areas for a long time, and they are using their dominance to sexually assault people in the community in order to break them and to destroy them, which is something that we know is always relevant,” she said.

“But what is unknown, and this is the first and only experience in history in this respect, is the occurrence of a singular, organized terrorist attack, in which terrorists are using their limited time not only to cause as many fatalities as possible but also to rape women and sexually assault civilians,” she added.

It can be difficult for a Western state to document this sort of unique sort of terror, she said.

“The ability of any state, but more so of a Western state, to respond to these crimes under chaotic conditions can be distracted, especially countries with a strong adherence to the rule of law and a highly sophisticated legal system,” she said.

‘Lower the authority threshold’

“The threshold for proof can be very high, and what my report offers are tools to help states understand what types of evidence can be collected to gain recognition of the occurrence of sexual violence without putting the burden of proof on victims,” Bitton added.

Generally, only specialists identify sexual violence at crime scenes, but Bitton’s report recommends broadening the responsibility to include other first responders, particularly under the chaotic conditions of a terrorist attack.

Only pathologists are authorized to take rape kits, but “we have only six pathologists in Israel throughout the country,” Bitton said.

“In circumstances like these, it makes sense to lower the authority threshold,” she added. “For example, dentists or physicians working in a morgue could be allowed to collect evidence of sexual crimes, given the shortage of pathologists during a time of crisis.”

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With just minutes left in his administration, former President Joe Biden pardoned five family members. In so doing, he may not have clinched the title of worst president of all time, but he did win the gold medal for being the most cynical and dishonest.

Clearly, Biden did not want his successor, President Donald Trump, to do to his family and friends what the U.S. Department of Justice during his administration attempted to do to Trump, his family and his allies—weaponize the criminal justice system and attack political enemies for political gain.

In one respect, Biden is doing Trump a favor. By not spending time settling scores as some in his inner circle would like, the 47th president can stay focused on “making America great again” by implementing the policies he was elected to enact.

However, there is one pardon Biden did not issue and whose conduct cannot be glossed over or condoned—that of Biden’s special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley. As a May 6 letter to then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho)—former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, respectively—makes clear, Malley left government under a cloud warranting having his security clearance revoked.

“[W]e understand that Mr. Malley’s security clearance was suspended because he allegedly transferred classified documents to his personal email account and downloaded these documents to his personal cell phone,” they wrote. “It is unclear to whom he intended to provide these documents, but it is believed that a hostile cyber actor was able to gain access to his email and/or phone and obtain the downloaded information.”

Many believe that the “hostile cyber actor” in this case is Iran and that Malley downloaded the classified information to his phone so that it could be transmitted to the Islamic Republic. It is also believed that the information downloaded pertained to U.S. and/or Israeli intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear program. In light of the Biden administration’s policy of weakness and appeasement toward Iran, Malley’s conduct must have been incredibly egregious for him to have lost his security clearance.

His conduct is even more outrageous in the wake of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Iran’s role in it. How many Americans and Israelis may have died because of his perfidy may never be known for sure. However, it appears that at a minimum, he was instrumental in putting the lives of Americans and the national security of the United States at risk. 

Yet, Malley goes unpunished. To date, his punishment has taken the form of being appointed to the faculty of Princeton University.

As the McCaul/Risch letter highlights, the Biden White House obstructed Congress’s oversight responsibilities and its efforts to learn more about why Malley lost his clearance.

With the change in presidential administration, it is time to reinvigorate the investigation into Malley’s conduct. Equal justice under the law demands that he be investigated. If it is found that he has committed treason, then he must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Investigating and prosecuting treason is not settling scores. It is keeping the country safe. If Trump has sworn to do anything, it is to do just that. 

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For Jews in Israel and across the globe, Oct. 7, 2023, was more than a horrific, unprecedented terrorist attack of historic proportions. For us, that fateful day changed the world as we know it.

No longer did we feel the (false) sense of security and comfort we had mistakenly felt on Oct. 6. In the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist rampage in southern Israel, hatred and bigotry—already on the rise—were unleashed with frightening speed and fury. It seemed that the haters got the global green light to come out of their skulking shadows, and burst onto college campuses and in the streets of American cities with a vengeance. Understandably feeling vulnerable, Jews were looking for solidarity from anyone who might offer it. Tellingly, we could barely find it anywhere.

So when we witnessed billionaire entrepreneur and X owner Elon Musk weirdly gesticulating his arms earlier this week at an inauguration event for President Donald Trump, many were confused and even perplexed. Could it be that he did a Nazi salute? To the honest and nonpartisan observer, it became immediately apparent that after viewing the entire video—and not the spliced, six-second clip shared by the extremists on the far-right and far-left—this was no Nazi-like gesture. What we saw was an exuberant Musk, emotionally, and yes, awkwardly, trying to connect with his adoring crowd. After all, it seemed inconsistent with everything we have come to know about him.

Even the Anti-Defamation League, not known for a warm and fuzzy relationship with Musk, immediately defended him by posting on X, “ ... It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute ... .” Of course, the ADL was immediately slammed by the usual suspects for daring to give its opinion on a subject that is the organization’s expertise.

Also inconsistent were the instantaneous condemnations and vilifications from leftists who were furious that Musk could invoke the universally abhorrent gesture. While their outrage would have been welcomed at any time this past year as Jews faced anti-Israel protests and antisemitic gestures worldwide, it became painfully obvious that the faux reaction wasn’t about providing well-needed support for beleaguered Jews. Rather, it was a calculated, politically motivated smear campaign to malign Musk, and by extension, Trump, with whom he has a close relationship.

As Musk’s loudest critics in Congress and the media were skewering him on every possible platform, many of those very same voices are the ones who have been loudest in calling for an arms embargo on Israel, even as the Jewish states continues its fight on a multifront war.

Among those in Congress leading the charge against Musk were Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the self-professed non-expert in international foreign policy, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), among others. These particular members of Congress are notable because they are also part of a larger cabal of leftist, anti-Israel lawmakers who have been banging the anti-Israel drums loudest in the Capitol.

They advocated for U.S. military aid to Israel to be cut during the height of Israel’s war against terrorists from all sides. For his part, Musk visited the Jewish state and met with Israeli leaders, as well as Oct. 7 victims and the families of hostages who have been held captive in Gaza for 15 months—something none of those yelling so loudly at Israel did.

And while some of these new bigotry warriors were embracing masked, keffiyeh-clad anti-Jewish hate groups on university campuses parroting the false genocide defamation of Israel, Elon was standing with Jews at Auschwitz in Poland.

While some senators were blocking the antisemitism awareness bill in Congress, Musk was everywhere, highlighting his “Bring Them Home” dog tags and calling for the release of Israeli hostages.

The duplicity of Musk’s detractors goes on and on.

A friend of mine used to sign his emails with the phrase, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” There’s no question this motto can certainly be an apt way to describe this past year of pain, sorrow and fear for the Jewish people. But tough times also reveal who your true friends are.

It is the height of hypocrisy and insult to see some of these brazen opportunists furiously pointing the antisemitism flag at Musk. These folks who turned their back on Israel during this war will be forever known as those who have most betrayed the Jewish people in our time of need. Their thunderous inaction in the face of Hamas’s unspeakable atrocities is their miserable legacy, not this salute charade.

Yes, politicians have perfected the art of shamelessness, but invoking antisemitism as a political weapon at a time of record-breaking Jew-hatred takes shamelessness to a whole new level.

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“When wine enters,” according to the Talmud, “secrets come out.”

The New York City Police Department is hoping for clues that might be revealed about a man wanted for breaking into a synagogue in Queens, N.Y., by “manipulating a basement door with a coat hanger” and then imbibing alcohol.

The man, who wears a black kippah in photos that police released on Friday, is accused of burglary at 144-49 72 Drive, per the police incident report that JNS viewed. That address is the address for the Orthodox synagogue Hashevaynu.

"Every Shabbos, over 150 people come together in tefillah ('prayer') and camaraderie, which makes the extremely warm Hashevaynu minyan unique and well-loved," the synagogue website states.

The suspect, upon entering the synagogue at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 7, "opened two bottles of liquor and consumed the liquor in cups," per the incident report.

"The unidentified individual fled the location on foot to parts unknown," it added. "There were no injuries reported."

In one of the photos that police released, the suspect looks at the surveillance camera and lifts up a plastic cup with a clear liquid in it.

NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $3,500 for information about the incident.

“Literally Temple Bar,” one social-media user wrote.

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Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, lashed out at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday during a session the 15-member body held that focused on the suffering of children in the Gaza Strip. 

“Why didn’t you hold a discussion on the situation of children in Israel?” he asked in the council’s chamber. “Children who suffer from ongoing terrorism. You are blind to their pain and their tears.”

The Israeli envoy was particularly incensed over the lack of mention of the Bibas brothers: Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 2. Hamas kidnapped the two boys and their parents—Yarden and Shiri Bibas—from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, dragging them into Gaza. They have not been seen or heard from since.

Ariel was 4 years old at the time. Kfir was only 9 months old.

“Perhaps you have forgotten about little Kfir Bibas, but I promise you we haven’t,” Danon said, holding up a picture of the baby boy.

Kfir Bibas was “ripped from his bed” and “has remained in the darkness of Hamas’s terror dungeons,” Danon said. He slammed the council for caring only for “political agendas.” Otherwise, “this session would discuss Kfir Bibas and all those Israel children still suffering as well,” the Israeli envoy said.

Danon also criticized the International Committee of the Red Cross, from which Israel has “received no word, nothing” about the condition of the Bibas children.

“No visits from the Red Cross, no offers of assistance and no outrage from the United Nations,” he stated.

The Red Cross has coordinated the transfer of released Israeli hostages out of Gaza, and the transfer of Palestinian security prisoners, including murderers, whom Israel released as part of the ceasefire and hostage deal.

Critics have accused the Red Cross of abandoning the Israeli hostages and refusing to put pressure on Hamas to allow for medical checkups and to assess proof of life.

“When will you do something effective against Hamas to change the future of the children of the world?” Danon asked the council.

‘Less important than children in Ukraine’

Russia’s envoy, who criticizes the Jewish state frequently, directed his ire elsewhere.

Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the global body, denounced the head of the U.N.’s children’s agency, UNICEF, for not appearing before the council to brief it on the situation in Gaza. Moscow had requested the meeting.

Catherine Russell, a former assistant to then-President Joe Biden and former director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, serves as executive director of UNICEF.

Nebenzia charged that Russell appeared before the council “at the drop of a hat” for a meeting about children in Ukraine in December when the United States held the presidency. (Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the war is ongoing.)

“So it would appear that for UNICEF, children in Gaza are less important than children in Ukraine,” he said. He called Russell’s absence on Thursday “a flagrant step which deserves our most serious censure.”

A UNICEF spokesperson said Russell, who is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was unable to adjust her schedule to brief the Security Council. Russell did brief the global body in the past on the situation of youth in Gaza and had offered to have another agency executive appear on Thursday, the spokesperson said.

Nebenzia told reporters that Russell’s claim to have offered a deputy to brief the body was “not true.”

He also accused Washington of shielding Israel and ignoring prior calls from Moscow for a meeting on Gazan children.

‘Get more, not less, aid in’

Dorothy Shea, acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said “the idea that the United States is responsible for the terrible suffering there is just unacceptable to us, and we reject it in its totality.”

Shea also dismissed the notion that Hamas and Iran should have a say in the future of the region, instead calling for Gaza to be demilitarized and for a more “integrated, prosperous Middle East.”

Several council members pressed for Israel not to implement a pair of laws set to go into effect on Wednesday that would bar communication between Israeli officials and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and would ban agency operations in Israel.

The United Nations says UNRWA, which Israel has claimed has extensive, documented ties to Palestinian terror groups, is the only agency that can coordinate aid and services in the Gaza Strip.

James Kariuki, London’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told the council that “the ceasefire deal should be an opportunity to get more, not less, aid in.”

He added that David Lammy, the U.K. foreign secretary, “has urged Israel to ensure UNRWA can continue its life-saving operations and give the fragile ceasefire the best chance of success.”

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In a call with Badr Abdelatty, the Egyptian foreign minister, on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked his counterpart “for Egypt’s mediation efforts in securing the release of hostages, for sustaining humanitarian assistance deliveries throughout Gaza and reinforced the importance of holding Hamas accountable,” according to Tammy Bruce, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Rubio and Abdelatty “affirmed the importance of the U.S.-Egypt strategic partnership for promoting regional peace, security and stability,” and Rubio “reiterated the importance of close cooperation to advance post-conflict planning for the governance and security of Gaza,” according to the U.S. readout.

David May, research manager and a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that although readouts of diplomatic calls tend to accentuate the positive, “this seems to indicate a different approach by the new administration.”

“The Biden administration alienated traditional Middle Eastern allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia by punishing them for human rights concerns. The Trump team seems to be signaling a return to friendlier ties,” May said. “Egypt has been a bit of a spoiler recently, turning a blind eye to Hamas smuggling that helped fortify the terrorist group in Gaza.”

“Perhaps the new administration’s carrot and stick approach will yield positive results,” he added, noting that Rubio enters his role at the helm in Foggy Bottom “with a wealth of foreign policy experience.”

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