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'God Answered Us.' Listen to Israeli Hostage Omer Shem Tov's Incredible AmFest Speech

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  December 19, 2025 6:45 PM

For 505 days, 21-year-old Omer Shem Tov was kept in darkness. Deprived of fresh air and light, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. At some points, the darkness was so crushing he feared he'd gone blind.

His terrorist captors kept Omer isolated from the other hostages for more than a year, adding oppressive loneliness to almost endless fear. Every day, his captors would abuse, insult, and torture him. He was starved.



In that darkness and depravity, Omer found his faith. He began praying for the first time in his life, asking for God to provide a presence in the lonely tunnels. He found a torn copy of Psalm 20 and committed it to memory.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Thanks to President Trump, Omer was one of the hostages released on February 22. He, along with five others, was freed from Hamas captivity. Two of the hostages released — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — had been hostages for more than a decade.

Omer spoke at AmFest on Friday, bringing a stark warning to the crowd and America.

Here's more from The New York Post:

A former Oct. 7 hostage who survived more than 16 months of Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip will warn attendees of Turning Point USA’s America Fest conference Friday that “radical terrorist violence” has spread across the globe since that tragic day, The Post can reveal.

“This fight is bigger than Israel. It is a fight for Western civilization itself,” Omer Shem Tov, who spent 505 days in captivity before his release this past Feb. 22, is expected to say, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.

The address will note that the same evil he encountered in Gaza’s tunnels is “spreading in Africa, in Europe, and yes, even here in America.”

Here is Omer's almost ten-minute speech:

"Today, I stand before as a free man," Omer said to thunderous applause. "But not long ago, I was a hostage in Gaza."

"On October 7, 2023, I was at a music festival in Israel. One moment, I was dancing with my friends, and the next, I was in the back of a pickup truck being dragged into Gaza."

Omer recounted his 505 days in captivity.

"There was no fresh air, no sunlight, no sense of time," he said of the terror tunnels. "Just darkness, pitch black, 24 hours a day."

"The hunger was constant. I was weak, dehydrated, and starving," Omer said. "Many days, all I had was a single cracker and a few drops of salty water."

Omer said the hardest part was the isolation. 

"Some hostages were held together. I wasn't. For more than a year, I did not see another hostage. No voices. No face. Just silence, darkness, and fear," Omer said.

"I had to find a reason to live," he continued. "Before my captivity, I had never really spoken to God before. But alone, in that darkness, I began to pray."

"Every day, I spoke to Him. I whispered, 'God, how are you? How was your day? Are you okay?' And in that darkness, I felt His presence. I thanked him for everything," Omer said. "For the food, even though there was almost none. For the water, even when it was salty. For my life, even though it was in danger every single day."

After about 100 days in captivity, Omer says the IDF fought above the tunnels where he was being kept. They left behind books, and Omer's captors brought them to him.

That's when he found the card containing Psalm 20.

"A card I somehow managed to hold onto, and I memorized it: 'Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.' While I was whispering those words in Gaza," Omer added, "my mother was reciting the same Psalm in my bedroom in Israel, praying for my return. The Psalm continues: 'Lord, answer us when we call.' God answered us. In those tunnels, I found God, and He saved me," Omer said.

Omer said his experience is part of a "much larger fight" and warned the audience that his captors had made their plans known.

"We have seen these same radical terrorists commit violence in Israel, in Europe, not long ago, just last week, in Australia, and even here at the United States, including the attack in Washington D.C., where two National Guardsmen were shot," Omer said.

"This is the evil we're fighting. This is not a distant conflict. These are terrorists who attack freedom wherever freedom is undefended," Omer said.

"And that is why Turning Point matters. Because you see the truth and you stand for freedom," Omer said. "Charlie Kirk, of blessed memory, once said, 'Israel is a civilized country. Hamas is a savage animal.' Take it from someone who spent 505 days as their hostage: He was right."

"They are savage animals. I can tell you something else about the terrorists who held me captive," Omer continued. "There was one man they feared the most: President Donald Trump."

"When he was elected, the way that they treated me changed completely," Omer noted. 

"They were terrified of him. And I want to state this clearly so the whole world hears it now: on behalf of the hostages, our families, and our nation, thank you, President Donald Trump, for our freedom. He fought for us. He brought us home," Omer said.

The crowd erupted with chants of "USA! USA!"

"When he met us at the White House," Omer continued, "he promised to bring home the remaining hostages, living and dead, in one deal. And he kept that promise."

"I told him he was sent by God, and I thank him, and I also thank you. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us. Who stood for truth, because this fight is between good and evil," Omer said. "A fight against terrorists who turn hospitals into torture chambers, schools into military bases, who murder young people at a music festival, who kill Jews because they're Jewish, and Christians because they're Christians."

Omer has spoken in the past about how his captors explicitly stated they would first go for the "Saturday people — the Jews" and then the "Sunday people — the Christians."

A Hamas operative, Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub al-Muhtadi, was found living in Lafayette, Louisiana, and arrested by the FBI in October. He took part in the October 7 terror attack and faces charges of providing or conspiring to provide material support to the DFLP (who worked with Hamas) and visa fraud. In Germany, five terrorists were arrested for a plot to attack a Christmas market, and Paris canceled both Christmas and New Year's celebrations because of terror threats.

"This evil is spreading," Omer warned. "But when I stand here with you today, I feel strong. Because we're united, we're free, and together we will defeat evil."

"And to those of you in this room, I know you, too, have faced difficult moments, and you chose how to respond," Omer said. "You chose action over apathy, faith over fear, strength over surrender. That is the story of Charlie. That is the story of Turning Point, and it is my story too.

"So I stand here not a victim, but as witness," Omer said. "A witness to what faith can build, to what resilience can sustain, to what happens when a person and a nation refuse to surrender. Thank you, Turning Point USA for standing with me. Thank you for standing for freedom. And you should know this: Israel will always stand with you."