In a recent interview with CNN, former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov revealed that his Hamas captors expressed a strong preference for Kamala Harris to win the 2024 U.S. presidential election, while expressing significant fear over the possibility of Donald Trump returning to office. Shem Tov, 22, was freed in February after spending 505 days in captivity in Gaza. He was taken hostage during the October 7, 2023, terror attack at the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
Reflecting on his experience, Shem Tov explained that the political developments in the United States had a noticeable impact on his captors’ behavior, Fox News reports.
“They were very scared of him,” Shem Tov said, referring to Trump. “They wanted Kamala to be elected.”
He noted that after Trump’s election, the attitude of his captors shifted significantly. “But as soon as Donald Trump was elected, they understood that he wanted to bring us back home. So immediately, the way they treated me changed,” he said. “When Trump became president, the way they treated us changed, for me personally.”
During the interview, CNN’s Bianna Golodryga asked if the captors expected a deal to come soon following Trump’s election. Shem Tov confirmed this and added that the captors started giving him more food. They “started treating me better. Stopped cursing me. Stopped spitting on me,” he explained.
The office of Vice President Kamala Harris did not respond to requests for comment, according to Fox News.
In March, Shem Tov visited the White House with other recently released hostages and told President Trump he believed the president was “sent by God” to help save them. In his conversation with CNN, Shem Tov credited Trump for his release, saying, “He got me out, he got the hostages out. Before, we felt like nothing was happening.”
A portion of the interview aired on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” where anchor Dana Bash noted that Hamas appeared to be “fattening up” Shem Tov, anticipating his release under Trump’s administration.
Currently, 58 hostages remain in Gaza, with at least 23 believed to be alive. Tragically, some hostages, including Itay Chen, 19, Mer Ne, 21, Judy Weinstein, 70, and her husband Gadi, 73, are believed to have been killed by Hamas during the October 7 attack, with their remains taken into Gaza.