Following Keith Siegel’s release from Hamas captivity, his family members revealed on Friday the difficult moments from his time in captivity, as well as the family tragedy that accompanied them, in interviews with i24NEWS and Channel 12.
They revealed that in the last two months of his captivity, Keith was alone and forbidden to speak.
“In his last two months, he was there alone,” his brother said. “He talked to us in his head, and when he could close his eyes and whisper to himself, that’s what he did.”
“When he realized what happened in Israel during the days he was in captivity, he told us: I’m sorry you had to go through that. He’s sorry for us.”
“When they forbade him to speak, which happened all the time. He would tell himself he would talk to Aviva, to the children, to the nephews, nieces, cousins, to all of us. That’s how he stayed grounded.”
Keeping their morale up
Last December, Keith’s mother passed away. Keith was the youngest of four siblings, and his sister Lucy says that even at his age, he was “the baby of the family; he always got preferential treatment.” He asked on the helicopter, and Aviva had to tell him.
Lucy told the interviewer, “All this time, my job was to make sure she didn’t know he was in captivity. I did everything I could so she wouldn’t know. I thought about it every morning, all day, and when I went to bed. She mustn’t know.”
His wife Aviva told Channel 12 that for more than a month in captivity, Keith was with Liri Albag and Amit Soussana in captivity. At one point, Keith was depressed, and Liri told him: “Keith, I’m worried about you; come back with us.”
Aviva says that she was unable to shake him out of his depression, and Liri succeeded.
“I would ask her, ‘How?’ I didn’t understand how she did it. I also asked her, ‘How do you manage to connect with terrorists like that?’ And she told me: ‘It’s just a game. You know that’s how you have to play.’ She simply has superpowers.”
One of the most difficult moments was when Keith learned that his mother had died about two months ago.
“When I first hugged him, he knew he was in Israel, and I was shocked,” his brother told me.
“We are slowly returning [to normal], in small steps, to what it was like before the October 7. We didn’t have a ‘good night’ or a ‘good morning’ – because it wasn’t good. It will be a journey.”
Taking each day as it comes
Despite the difficult conditions, family members say, Keith made sure to find something to be grateful for every day.
“Even when they separated him from Aviva, he continued to search and say thank you every day – whether he was alone or with others,” his brother said. “What day is it today? Who am I with? What did we do? Thank you for the food.” The food, the brothers say, was pita bread, some hummus, and beans.
“His memory is very strong about those 484 days,” the brothers added. “When he realized what Israel went through while he was in captivity, he said he was sorry we had to go through that.”
Aviva concluded: “It’s crazy to be on the other side, the one that receives Keith, and not the side that returns from Gaza. When he came back I was scared, he didn’t look like himself.”
His daughter, Shir Siegel, even started a routine on her story inspired by her father, in which she asked her followers every day what they were grateful for today and shared what she was grateful for.
“Keith loves music,” his brother and sister said. “A week ago, we were talking about one of his favorite bands. The smile on his face, his ability to talk – that’s everything.”
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