At a press conference at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Orit Meir gave details of his son Almog Meir Jan’s eight-month captivity by Hamas in Gaza, and his state of health as he follows rehabilitation in hospital.
Orit Meir spoke out two days after Israeli forces rescued his son, along with Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv and Noa Argamani, in a heroic mission. According to Ms. Meir, the close bond her son established with Kozlov and Ziv sustained him. “They were held together for more than six months of the eight months they were hostages…The bond they had with each other strengthened them. They did not lose hope until they were rescued. They supported each other, Almog never gave up his belief that he would survive captivity,” Meir explains.
Ms. Meir says her son learned Arabic during his time in Gaza and became familiar with the news by occasionally listening to Al Jazeera, but not by watching the channel. He returned without a full picture of the war or information about the hostages, and his family and hospital staff gradually filled him in on the details. “He also learned Russian because Andrey speaks that language. The three of them had a lot of time to talk to each other. They speak together in the hospital and seem to have developed their own language with particular signs,” explains Ms. Meir. She expressed relief that her son has returned to good health, but she acknowledges that his full recovery will take time. “It won’t be easy. It was like he had no identity for those eight months. They took away his freedom. We are giving him the space and power to make decisions for himself . It’s very important. I’m sure he still has a long way to go, says Mr. Meir. “And don’t forget what we experienced yesterday. My son is doing shiva (mourning),” she adds, referring to the death and burial of Almog Meir Jan’s father and Orit Meir’s ex-husband, Yossi Jan, who died a few hours ago before learning that her son had been rescued.
