Ex-captive: ‘Many Israeli hostages pretended to convert to Islam’

The former hostage recalled reciting Psalm 23 daily to endure nearly two years in captivity.

By World Israel News Staff

Former Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski said that a majority of the Jewish captives held alongside him in Gaza pretended to convert to Islam while in captivity, stressing that they did so under threats of death and torture.

Braslavski, who was abducted from the Nova Music Festival during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacres and held hostage in Gaza for nearly two years, has spoken publicly since his release about the physical and psychological abuse he endured, including sexual assault.

“At least 60 percent of the Jewish hostages ‘converted to Islam’ in captivity,” Braslavski said in an interview with Channel 14 News.

According to Braslavski, those who professed conversion later made clear to him that they did not genuinely abandon Judaism but instead did so in an effort to improve their chances of survival.

“I admit that I also considered it. But I told myself, ‘G-d in heaven is looking at you and knows everything. I will not play this game,'” Braslavski recounted.

He described his captors as frequently discussing Islam with the hostages and attempting to persuade them to abandon their Jewish faith.

“They talked to us constantly about Muhammad and the Quran,” he said, recalling that they repeatedly urged him, “Come join us. You’re wrong and we’re right.”

According to Braslavski, his captors made “many attempts” to pressure him into converting. Despite being raised in a secular household and not being religious before his kidnapping, he said he ultimately refused because of his connection to his Jewish identity.

The Jerusalem native said that before October 7, faith had played only a limited role in his life. Ironically, he said, the relentless efforts by his captors to convert him strengthened rather than weakened his Judaism.

Among the prayers that became a source of comfort during captivity was Psalm 23.

“I repeated, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me,’ several times a day,” he recounted.

He said he has observed every Shabbat since his release, adding he “will continue to keep [Shabbat] for the rest of my life.”