Israeli pop star Omer Adam brought on stage former hostages Bar Kupershtein and Eliya Cohen during his Barclays Center performance in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Tuesday night.
It was the second night out of two sold-out concerts on Nov. 1 and Nov. 3 that the Israeli singer performed in front of a crowd of approximately 18,000 people.
Footage shared on social media showed Adam embracing the former captives in his arms on a large screen to the cheers of the audience.
“Thank you very much for being here,” Cohen said into a microphone on stage, “for listening to our man.”
“I am so excited to be here,” Kupershtein said next.
He shared with the crowd that he was held by Hamas for 738 in captivity in Gaza.
The pair then started singing Adam’s Bachurim Tovim (“Good Guys”) wrapped in the Israeli flag.
Omer Adam brought out Bar Kuperstein and Eliya Cohen at his show tonight- former Hamas hostages who survived 738 and 505 days in terrorist captivity
— Max Mannis (@MaxMannis) November 4, 2026
Absolute chills. עם ישראל חי 💙🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/ZztfIAB88d
The mother of the Israeli pop star shared a video of the occasion on her Instagram, writing in Hebrew, “More than a thousand days bound in chains by Hamas. And today, in New York, on the Barclays stage, they celebrated and sang with our Omer, with pride, with dignity, with joy, and with their heads held high.”
She continued, “Blessed be His name forever. The people of Israel live, and shall live forever! With God’s help, we shall act, succeed, and triumph in all our wars.”
Kupershtein was abducted by Hamas from the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and was released in October 2025 as part of a hostages-for-prisoners exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking with JNS in April, he said he was able to survive Hamas captivity for two years through his “big faith” and thinking about his family.
Kupershtein has been the head of his family since an accident rendered his father wheelchair-bound several years ago. While he was held hostage in Gaza, he wondered who was caring for his family. He told himself that he needed to survive and be strong for his family.
Cohen spent 505 days in captivity in Gaza. He was also abducted from the Supernova music festival.
Speaking with Cohen at a New York City event in October that hosted some 400 people, television host and psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw asked him what message he had for Jews and Israelis who supported him during his captivity.
“Stay proud to be Jewish,” Cohen said. “Stay proud to be Israeli.”
Thousands of Hamas and other Gazan terrorists invaded Israel’s northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people and abducting 251 more into the Gaza Strip.
