Israel Society

By Pesach Benson • June 24, 2025

Jerusalem, 24 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Eli Sharabi, a survivor of Hamas captivity, was awarded Israel’s Golden Book Prize in a virtual ceremony on Monday after his memoir Hostage, shattered Israeli records by selling 20,000 copies in just five days.

“I wrote it to show it doesn’t matter what cards life deals you, it is in your hands. You can make the choice to live and how to live,” said Sharabi, who participated remotely from London because of flight disruptions to Israel.

“The other reason I wrote… is so that people understand what we went through—and what those still there are going through.”

Sharabi said he wrote Hostage in two months to share his story and advocate for the other captives in Gaza.

Monday’s ceremony, organized by the Israel Book Publishers Association, was held online due to the Home Front Command’s cancellation of public events.

Sharabi, 52, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023. His wife, Lianne, and daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were murdered in the Hamas assault, as was his brother Yossi, whose body remains in captivity. Sharabi was held in Gaza for 491 days before being released in February 2025 during a temporary ceasefire. The image of an emaciated Sharabi being paraded across a stage before his release shocked Israelis.

During his time in captivity, Sharabi was held with fellow hostages Alon Ohel, Eliya Cohen, and Or Levy. They taught Cohen English using the only book they had, a novel by American-Israeli fantasy writer Leigh Bardugo. “We taught Eliya English and he read the book a few times. He learned English in captivity,” Sharabi said. “It shows how much our survival mattered to us.”

Sharabi continues to campaign for the release of remaining hostages, including 23-year-old Alon Ohel. “I can’t stop thinking about them and working for them so that they come home. And they will,” he said.

Published by the Sella Meir Publishing House, Hostage is currently being translated into multiple languages.

“Books, more than films, TV series, or plays, are able to relate the true circumstances of a situation,” Sharabi said.

Bini Trivaks, chairman of the Book Publishers Association, called Hostage a “resounding human document.”

“It is not easy to read it — let alone write it — but his book is more important than ever. We need words that describe what is difficult to describe, that frame the shock and pain, and turn it into a living, human, national memory,” Trivaks said.

Israeli authors and publishers have produced an unprecedented literary response to the October 7 Hamas attack and subsequent war, with nearly 1,000 books addressing the conflict published in 2024, according to the National Library of Israel’s annual report released on June 9 during Hebrew Book Week.

“The trauma of the terror attack, the issue of the hostages, and the impact of the longest war that Israel has experienced have all influenced every aspect of life in Israel,” the report said. “This state of affairs is expected to continue to yield books in all genres into 2025.”

At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.