Rescued Hostage learned Arabic and Russian in captivity

Almog Meir Jan was kept in the same building as hostages Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv before IDF soldiers liberated them.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Almog Meir Jan, one of the hostages released during Saturday’s rescue mission, learned Russian and Arabic during his eight months of captivity, according to his mother, Orit.

While being interviewed at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Orit said, “He was exposed to news on Al Jazeera in Arabic.”

She added, “He learned Arabic but also Russian from [fellow hostage] Andrey Kozlov.”

Almog Meir Jan was kept in the same building as Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv before IDF soldiers liberated them.

Orit described the close bond that developed between the three men in captivity.

“They bonded very much. You see the hug between them, the connection between them,” she said.

“It is a very deep bond, a bond that will last a lifetime.”

Orit also described how moved he was seeing the Israeli public advocate on behalf of the hostages.

She said, “He saw the rally in the square and saw pictures of himself on the stage at the rally.”

He also saw clips of his family members speaking to news outlets and fighting for his freedom.

Almog Meir’s mother described her relief at having her son returned to her.

“This is the first time I have slept in eight months.”

When she first received news of her son’s rescue, she was overjoyed and could hardly believe it was happening.

“I couldn’t believe it at first; I asked, ‘Is he alive?’ and let out a scream of joy,” she said.

She added, “Everyone gathered around me, we went to our room and started packing. Everyone sang ‘Am Yisrael Chai.’

Jan recounted that Hamas terrorists had forced him to film a propaganda video on his birthday, which was never released to the public.

He added that he had been able to keep a journal while in captivity and would make daily entries to keep track of how long he’d been in captivity.