October 7 · Personal story
Elkana Bohbot
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im
Current outcome
Released alive · October 13, 2025
Released alive on October 13, 2025 after 738 days in captivity.
01
Life before October 7
Elkana Bohbot was born and raised in Mevaseret Zion. He served in Orev Golani and later worked as an entrepreneur in event production and Jerusalem nightlife. At Nova, he was an organizer responsible for logistics, working with suppliers, sound, security and local authorities. He and his wife Rivka built a family with their son Ra’am. He later described wanting festivalgoers to enjoy themselves and return home safely.
02
October 7
When rockets began falling on October 7, Elkana went onstage and calmly asked festivalgoers to leave. He stayed behind to make sure people were evacuating. In his later account, he said he was abducted at 8:45 a.m. with other young men and loaded onto a pickup heading for Gaza. Beaten and injured during the drive, he kept counting to ten to stop himself from losing consciousness.
03
In captivity
Elkana was first held in an apartment, then moved into tunnels. About three weeks later, he was separated from some of the men taken with him and later held with Bar Kupershtein, Maxim Herkin and others. He described walking barefoot, receiving little medical care, becoming ill and being repeatedly told that his family had been killed. He marked holidays with other captives, drew a paper fish for Rosh Hashanah and made a small doll he called Merlin. In a 2025 interview, he said captors used false claims about his wife and mother to target his closest attachments.
04
Return
Elkana returned alive on October 13, 2025, after 738 days in captivity. He first reunited with Rivka, then waited with a psychologist and social worker before seeing Ra’am. After six days at Sheba Medical Center, he returned to Mevaseret Zion.
05
Life after return
In a March 13, 2026 interview about his book, Elkana said writing helped him express thoughts and feelings he had feared forgetting. He described taking life hour by hour, staying in regular contact with other survivors and facing flashbacks triggered by sounds resembling weapons. He was rebuilding his relationship with Ra’am, then five and a half, and working with psychologists, physiotherapists and social workers.