Speaking for the captives

Michael Levy wants his brother to know that he’s doing everything he can to bring him home. Thirty-four-year-old Or Levy and his wife Eynav, were at the Supernova festival just outside Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked. Eynav died in the attack, and Or was one of roughly 250 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas.

Well over a year later, Or remains in captivity. Meanwhile, his 3-year-old son, Almog, waits for his father to come home as Or’s older brother, Michael, fiercely advocates for his release.

WORLD spoke with Michael Levy about the Oct. 7 attacks, his recent address to the United Nations Security Council last month, and his thoughts about the U.S. role in negotiations for the war in Gaza and the release of the hostages.

What was it like growing up in Israel with two younger brothers?
“As you can imagine, there was a lot of mess in my parents’ house. We always broke pretty much everything. We used to play any kind of ball game you can imagine in the living room when our parents weren’t around, and it was a lot of fun. I guess it wasn’t fun for my parents. But for us, it was great.

“I’m the oldest. I always knew I was the big brother. I also felt a mission or a job to do … protecting them.”

Tell me about your brother, Or.
“It’s annoying how genius he is. He pretty much taught himself everything. He is the guy you want when you have any kind of issue with your cell phone, your TV, or your computer. He taught himself to program, and he’s now one of the best computer engineers you can find.

“He’s also a fun guy. He’s always surrounded by friends.

“He has a family. His wife, Eynav, was his whole life. Almog, his 3-year-old son, is still his whole life. And he loves music and basketball. That is the hobby we both share. We used to go to ball games together. We used to play some hoops and play against other people outside.”

Tell me about Or’s wife, Eynav. How did they meet and what was she like?
“They used to be what people call soulmates. They met each other when they were around 18. They actually started out as just very good friends. My mom asked him, ‘Why don’t you date? You’re always together?’ And he just said, ‘Mom, I can’t. She’s like my sister.’ And I think it was two or three months after that, they came and told us, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, we are dating now.’ And we all laughed because it wasn’t a big surprise for any of us.”

I know this is difficult, but walk me through what happened on Oct. 7, 2023.
“I’ve actually told this story so many times, and for some reason, I keep believing that the next time will be easier. But it’s not. It’s actually a sad ‘What if?’ story, because the Supernova Festival actually started on Oct. 6. But Almog was sick the whole week before, so they wanted to spend the night with him to make sure he was okay … and he was. So they decided to leave him with his grandparents and go to the Supernova Festival. It’s about an hour-long drive, so they got to the festival at 6:20 a.m. It was nine minutes before all hell broke loose there. So at the beginning, I just kept repeating, ‘What would have happened if they’d had a flat tire? Or if Almog was sick? Or if they were stuck in traffic, or whatever?’ It took me a while to understand it, but it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.”

At what point did Or know something was wrong?
“Or texted my mother when the missile attack started at 6:29. He told her they were heading back because there were a lot of missiles and they couldn’t stay, obviously. About 20 minutes later, he texted her again and told her they were hiding in a bomb shelter.”

When did you next hear from Or?
“Or called my mother from inside. He was completely terrified. He just repeated the sentence, ‘Mom, you don’t want to know what’s going on here.’ Somewhere between 40-50 heavily armed Hamas terrorists arrived.”

“They had nowhere to go. They were just stuck inside. All they could do was pray. Ten minutes after the call with my mother, the terrorists started attacking this bomb shelter. They threw nine grenades inside. There was a brave man inside who managed to throw out eight of those nine grenades. Eventually, they tried to spray the bomb shelter with bullets. They fired an RPG and threw two other grenades inside.”

“They killed 18 out of the 29 who were inside, including Eynav. Or had to watch Eynav being killed.”

And that was the last you saw of Or?
“We actually have a video of him that was released—a video of him thrown into the back of a pickup truck covered with Eynav’s blood. There is another video of him begging them not to take him. And that’s it. They took him, together with three others, including [American citizen] Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was executed a few months ago together with five other hostages.”

Do you believe he is still alive?
“We know he was kidnapped alive and that he was injured, but he wasn’t severely injured. And the assumption of the Israeli Defense Forces is that he’s still alive. Usually the IDF is very accurate. So I choose to trust them, because that’s what keeps me going.”

How is Almog, Or’s 3-year-old son, dealing with this?
“Most days he looks like a normal, real boy. He’s doing things he shouldn’t do. [LAUGHS] We try to keep him guarded somehow… but there are a lot of places where you can see the sadness in his eyes. For example, his kindergarten teacher told us that one time she spoke to one of the other kids and told them something like, ‘Your dad will bring it,’ and Almog burst into tears because he misses his dad.

“We wanted to believe he was too young to remember anything. He was only 2 years and 3 months old on Oct. 6, so we believed he didn’t remember anything. But he apparently does. My brother took him to ride a scooter one day, and he asked him, ‘Who taught you how to ride it?’ And he told him, ‘Daddy! He taught me.’ And when we took him to the beach—something that Or and Eynav did all the time—he all-of-a-sudden asked us, ‘Is Daddy really coming back?’ Because we told him we are looking for him, and we are doing everything to bring him back.”

Last month, you addressed the United Nations Security Council.
“It was actually the first time that one of the hostage families spoke to or briefed the Security Council, and I have to thank the U.S. ambassador to the UN who invited me. For me, it was kind of a symbolic thing, because I am not naïve. I knew it wouldn’t change what China thinks about the situation, or what the Russians think about the situation, or the Algerians, or any other country that, for some reason, ignores the fact that Oct. 7 happened and that there are still 100 innocent civilians held by Hamas, who is committing crimes against humanity every day. But I wanted them to look at me and hear my voice and to hear the pain and what it’s like to be a part of this horrible situation. And I wanted to remind them that it’s their job and they cannot ignore the fact that there are innocent lives held by Hamas.”

What should happen to the Hamas terrorists who took your brother and the other hostages on Oct. 7?
“I think it’s not a matter of revenge. It’s a matter of just eliminating evil. You see those monsters celebrate the deaths they caused and try to take a selfie [photo] with Hersh who lost his arm in the explosion. They actually hug him and celebrate the fact that he’s bleeding and almost dying. You see the pure evil and those monsters. But more than I want them eliminated, I want my brother back. What will happen to them? It’s between them and God.”

Shortly after winning the U.S. general election, President-elect Trump issued a warning to Hamas—that he reiterated just last week—saying there’d be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released before he assumed office. What is your response?
“First of all, I think for the first time in 15 months, I actually have hope. I have hope that someone will make Hamas release the hostages. I don’t think President Trump needs my advice, but there’s one thing that I think he already knows—and that’s the fact that this situation needs a bad cop in the best possible way. Someone has to go to the countries that are financing Hamas—like Qatar, like Iran, like Turkey—and tell them that this cannot go on, and they have to release the hostages or they will be held responsible.”

You mentioned your brother and the other Israelis at the festival prayed when they were in the bomb shelter. Earlier you said the terrorists’ fates are between them and God. Do you have a belief in God, and if so, how does that play into this?
“I’m not religious, but I have faith in God. I believe that someone is guarding us, and I believe he is protecting my brother and eventually good will get him back. Like I said, I’m not very religious, but I pray all the time to get my brother back.”

If you could send your brother a message right now, what would you tell him?
“That I’ll do everything to bring him back. I will not rest and I will not stop until all of the rest of the hostages are back. Sometime in the past 15 months, I tattooed myself with the phrase, ‘Whatever it takes.’

“This is my mission in life now—to bring him back—and I want him to know that. And I want him to stay strong and just hang in there.”

Dig deeper: Read Travis Kircher's interview with Aviva Siegel, who spent 51 days in Hamas captivity.