Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli resident of Kfar Aza, a kibbutz located near the border with Gaza, spent 484 days as a hostage of Hamas after being kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Since his release in February 2025, he has become a tireless advocate for those still held captive by the terror group.
“I am here. I’m alive. I’m standing on my two feet,” Siegel told WCCO News in Minneapolis. “I’m advocating for the release of the hostages. And it’s proof that it can be done.”
Siegel, originally from North Carolina, moved to Israel in the 1980s and built his life in Kfar Aza. On October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, they kidnapped him and his wife, Aviva.
“I was held against my will and I was held in horrific conditions,” Siegel said. “Living in constant threat, danger and uncertainty and being totally disconnected from my family, not knowing how they were doing.”
While Aviva was released in November 2023 during a temporary ceasefire, Keith remained in captivity for another year. He was moved more than 30 times between homes, apartments, and underground tunnels.
“Being a hostage, you have no control over anything other than what goes on in your mind,” he said. “They decided if I would get food or wouldn’t get food, I would get water or wouldn’t get water. They were going to curse me and spit on me and scream at me for no reason – or not. I want people to know the horrific atrocities that Hamas did on October the 7th by murdering and killing innocent people.”
Now free, Siegel has made five trips to the United States, including meetings with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. His message is clear: bring the hostages home and ensure Hamas can never again threaten Israel.
“I support an agreement that will bring the hostages home and makes sure Hamas will never pose a threat to the security of Israel,” Siegel said. “On October the 7th, Muslims were kidnapped and murdered. Buddhists were kidnapped and murdered. It wasn’t only Jews. They attacked Israel, they targeted Israel, but they took hostage other people of different nationalities. It happened in Israel. It could happen here.”
(Israel National News’ North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Yom Kippur in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
Source link
