Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest, its first since the killing of its founder and leader Charlie Kirk in September, kicked off on Thursday with prominent names on its four-day agenda, including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

Some speakers, such as Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, have spread anti-Israel and even antisemitic messages through their platforms, while others, including Ben Shapiro and Glenn Beck, have been strong advocates for Israel.

Joining them on the program on Friday is Omer Shem Tov, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 505 days.

Shem Tov, 23, arrived at the Nova Festival near the Gaza border on Oct. 6, 2023, with his friends, siblings Itay and Maya Regev. On the morning of Oct. 7, when they heard gunshots, they attempted to flee, but Hamas terrorists fired on them, loaded them onto a pickup truck and drove them to Gaza. Itay and Maya Regev were freed in the first hostage deal in November 2023, and Shem Tov was moved into tunnels, where he was held in darkness and with little to eat until his release in February of this year.

Since then, Shem Tov has regularly traveled abroad to advocate for the release of the rest of the hostages and speak about Israel and the war. 

Shem Tov told Jewish Insider that he’s speaking to TPUSA because “we can see on social media that something is changing on the American right. You can see more and more people coming out with all kinds of antisemitic statements and anti-Israel statements.”

“It’s very concerning, because these are people who vote for Trump, people who are supposed to be good for us,” he added. “This is the time to go to them and explain to them what is really happening in the war and make them understand that the friendship between the U.S. and Israel is one of the greatest things for both countries.”

Shem Tov said it wasn’t until he was freed from Hamas captivity that he became aware of TPUSA and Charlie Kirk’s work. “To see someone who is not Jewish, not directly connected to Israel, go to universities and the largest audiences and fight for Israel was very touching,” Shem Tov said of Kirk. “He did a better job than most Israelis. It was amazing to see him.”

Shem Tov was in the U.S. when Kirk was murdered and said he was “shaken.”

“It’s scary because [public speaking] is what I’m doing now, too, but on the other hand, it should not silence us. We must continue to fight. We have been fighting for our freedom for thousands of years, and we will continue,” he said.

Shem Tov plans to tell the audience at AmericaFest the story of his captivity, in addition to paying tribute to Kirk and discussing the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Israelis have come to know a story of Shem Tov’s heroism while in captivity, which he repeated for JI.

“During a difficult period [of the captivity], the IDF was right above me. I heard tanks over my head, and even soldiers speaking at night, through the air vents,” he recalled. 

“[Hamas terrorists] set up bombs in the building above us and brought the cables underground,” Shem Tov said. “I asked what it was, and they told me. One of [the captors] said that when soldiers get to the house above us — there were cameras, so we could watch — I need to blow up the house.”

“I looked at him, the leader of the tunnel, and I said ‘I won’t do it.’ He looked at me and was in shock that I said no. He said, ‘If you don’t do it, we’ll shoot you in the head.’ I said, ‘So shoot me in the head. I won’t hurt my brothers.’ After that, they abused me,” Shem Tov recounted.

Debates on college campuses pale in comparison to the terror of captivity and the threat of immediate death, so Shem Tov said he is “always ready” for any anti-Israel audience members who may come for him.

“I know the facts,” he said. “If they come with a claim that sounds logical and rational, then I am prepared to debate and bring the truth. I know the truth, I saw it with my own eyes.”

Shem Tov recalled speaking at an event at University of California, Berkeley, where he was disappointed to find a totally supportive audience. He set up a table on campus the next day with an Israeli flag and a sign that read “I was a hostage in Gaza for 505 days, ask me anything.”

“Pro-Palestinian people came up to me with keffiyehs and watermelon pins. I think they were more calm and pleasant because I was a hostage. I told them my story, but I was open to hearing what they had to say. I think I succeeded in changing people’s minds. It was amazing to see,” he said.

Asked about Shem Tov’s address and the mix of pro- and anti-Israel voices appearing at AmericaFest, Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said in a statement to JI, “You can recognize that there is a legitimate foreign policy debate within the right while simultaneously recognizing that abducting young people at a music festival and holding them hostage for 505 days is a horrific evil.” 

“Omer’s heroism should absolutely be celebrated, and we pray that the peace in Gaza, made possible by President [Donald] Trump’s strong and steady leadership, proves durable and long-lasting,” Kolvet stated.

Shem Tov said he had no background in public speaking or Israel advocacy before being released from Gaza.

“I wasn’t a good student,” he said. “I would disturb in class and be kicked out a lot. I went to the army, and when I finished, I worked as a waiter to try to make money to go on a big trip, and then I was kidnapped.”

Shem Tov said he is often asked whether it is hard for him to speak so frequently about what he endured as a hostage.

“I do it for the hostages. Up to the very last one. … It’s not over until Ran Gvili” — the final hostage whose body remains in Gaza — “comes home,” he said.

“Second, it’s advocacy for Israel. It’s very important for people to understand what happened on Oct. 7,” he added.

Shem Tov said, “I thank God. God brought me home for a reason and with a story that I can tell so people will be strengthened and to spread light, love and truth. It’s hard, but it is fulfilling to see the change happening with my own eyes.” 

“I think I learned to get some gifts from this terrible thing that happened. I learned not to just be sad, but to get up and strengthen others,” he said.

As to the terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday in which 15 were killed, Shem Tov said “it really brought me back” to the Nova Festival.

“A month and a half ago, I was there in Bondi Beach. I know the area; I know what it looks like; I know a lot of people there. It was very painful to see that this had to happen to more people,” he said. “We went through this once in Israel. It should have brought a change and made people understand… but here, it’s happening again. It’s scary and painful and disappointing to people who don’t understand that we need to fight terrorism. It’s not fighting for freedom; it’s not resistance.”

Shem Tov expressed appreciation to Jewish communities around the world that advocated for his release.

“It’s a privilege to meet people who I don’t know and didn’t know me, but did whatever they could to pray for me and fight for me, to shout in the streets. … They dedicated so much of themselves and so much time that it is a privilege to look them in the eyes and say thank you,” he said.

Shem Tov added that he salutes all of the IDF soldiers who fought in the war: “I appreciate them so much for fighting, whether in their prayers or in the field.”