For two years, they were held in captivity. For two years, their families kept a secret. Now, with all surviving hostages home and 19 bodies still in Gaza, details are emerging about the military service of several hostages, information their families worked desperately to conceal.
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Nahal combat soldier, logistics corps officer, Givati commander, and commando fighter: Bar, Rom, Yosef Chaim, and Avinatan.
(Photo: IDF)
After their release, it became known that Bar Kupershtein and Rom Braslavski, abducted from the Nova music festival, were both serving in the Israel Defense Forces at the time. Rom served in the Central Command’s logistics corps, while Bar was a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion.
“He really hid it,” said Julie Kupershtein, Bar’s mother. “He’s very smart, very clever. He told them he wasn’t in the army, that he was a paramedic. Somehow, he managed to hide it. But honestly, he told us they didn’t care if someone was a soldier or not. They treated everyone horribly. They’re all young, so the captors probably assumed most of them were soldiers anyway.”
Maxim Herkin, another freed hostage, had completed officer training just two months before he was abducted. His mother said he managed to get rid of his military ID and conceal his service throughout his captivity.
Avinatan Or, who was among the 20 hostages freed on Monday, served in the elite Rimon reconnaissance unit, which was disbanded in 2018 and absorbed into Israel’s Commando Brigade. His father, Yaron, said: “We were very careful not to say a word about it. We were afraid they might find out.”
The father of Yosef Chaim Ohana, who suffered severe abuse while in captivity, said his son also succeeded in hiding his past as a fighter and commander in the Givati Brigade from his captors.
Thursday morning, authorities confirmed the identification of the last hostage in Gaza: Inbar Hayman, along with Gaza Division tracker Master Sgt. Muhammad al-Atrash. Hayman’s aunt, Hannah, said the family had chosen not to disclose that Inbar, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival and murdered on October 7, had served as a commander in the Caracal Battalion.
“There’s something we never told the public—we hid it,” Hannah said. “Our Inbar was a commander in Caracal for three years. She was the salt of the earth, a hero of Israel. That was Inbar, and that was something we weren’t allowed to say. Now she deserves that final honor.”
Following the identification, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement from Hayman’s family: “Our beloved Inbar has returned home—to her parents, her brother, to us. The feeling is indescribable, joy mixed with deep sorrow. Now Inbar will finally rest with the honor she deserves. “We’re sure that if Inbar were here today, she would urge us to keep fighting for the 19 brothers and sisters still in captivity,” the family said. “Our Inbar, the salt of the earth, commanded for three years in Caracal. We salute you, and we ask the entire public to salute you too. A hero of Israel.”
Among those freed, some have chosen to keep their military past private, at their own request or that of their families.