Fresh testimony has emerged Friday about Agam Berger's 482-day ordeal in Hamas captivity. Yaffa Deri, wife of Shas party chairman Knesset member Aryeh Deri, and their daughter Margalit Peretz, visited the released observers at the hospital Friday, revealing intimate details of Agam's spiritual resilience. During the visit, Deri shared that "Agam found a Siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Gaza and maintained her religious observance, including fasting on Tisha B'Av."
Speaking to Israel Hayom after leaving the hospital, Deri disclosed that Agam Berger, released Thursday during the Hamas-Israel hostage deal's third swap, "discovered a prayer book in Gaza that became her spiritual anchor throughout her captivity. Agam believes the prayer book was inadvertently left behind by soldiers who had previously been in the area."
In a deeply moving first statement at Beilinson Hospital, Agam revealed to Deri that she "categorically refused to accept the Quran [the Islamic holy book] despite her captors' persistent attempts to persuade her." Yaffa Deri, Margalit Peretz-Deri, and Tzili Schneider from the Kesher Yehudi ("Jewish Connection") organization have been steadfast supporters of the Berger family throughout their 15-month ordeal, accompanying them on journeys, during Sabbaths, to holy sites, and at women's gatherings. Their presence at the hospital came at the specific request of the Berger family.
Ayelet, Agam's mother, delivered her first public statement at Beilinson Hospital with profound gratitude: "If I had to stand here and thank everyone who stood by us, I would be standing here until the end of my life."
These revelations add to earlier reports of Agam's extraordinary spiritual fortitude during captivity, including her determined adherence to kosher dietary laws and Jewish traditions under the most challenging circumstances.
Berger was taken from the Nahal Oz military post during the October 7 along with several other female observers who had tried to alert the military of suspiciousmovements along the border before the horrific attack. Dozens of soldiers from the base were killed in the attack, as well as more than 1,200 other Israeli residents and foreigners.
