Former hostage Segev Kalfon arrived Monday at the Israel Building Resilience conference in Jerusalem, held as the economy regains momentum and Israeli society reconnects its unique fabric.
During a panel with reporter Yoav Limor, Kalfon was asked what question he would pose to himself first, and he replied, "How do you feel?" So how do you feel, Limor asked, and Segev responded, "Very moved. Moved to be living the life I dreamed about."
"What does life look like now? What does morning feel like? You mentioned you still struggle with sleep?" Limor asked.
Segev Kalfon explained, "Yes. I try to stay busy during the day. At night, when I get into bed and I'm by myself, I pull the covers up and the thoughts flood in. That's where the real struggle lives. October 7. Everything I endured in captivity comes flooding back. I recall the times they took me out to be executed. Through divine providence, circumstances shifted, and went wrong in my favor. There's this yellow container outside the festival, near the checkpoint, that stays fixed in my mind. Ultimately, it's two years of agony. Not two days. Two years where every minute, every second, you exist in mortal danger. It's permanently carved in."
Q: Were there times when you believed this was the end? That you wouldn't survive? That you wouldn't come home?
Segev said, "Yes. There were times I believed this was it. That I would certainly die there. We endure torture daily."
