Captivity survivor Emily Damari met on Wednesday with twins Gali and Ziv Berman, who were released on Monday from Hamas captivity 738 days after being abducted.
Damari, who was released earlier in the year, wrote: "Gali and Zivi are home. What a weight off my chest, off my soul. There are no words to describe how I feel. You are here with us on Israeli soil. Safe, embraced, cared for.”
She described the reunion at Sheba Hospital, "Yesterday, I went to Sheba Hospital to meet Gali and Zivi, and finally, the light returned to my face. I didn't agree to leave. I'm not willing to waste a minute I have with you. I even got to sleep with you! I don't want to leave. Just to breathe you in again and again. We have so much catching up to do."
Damari shared her memories from being held in captivity with Ziv, "I was in captivity with Ziv for 40 days. I remember the long nights, how we held each other, in those heart-to-heart talks that we didn't even have at the Young Generation neighborhood. Once, when we were together, the house where we were held collapsed. They dressed us in Gazan cloths and quickly took us out of the building. That was the first time that we saw the sky since the abduction. And then I saw your earring sticking out of the hijab, and I feared that the Gazans would recognize us because of it."
"I quickly removed it, and today, I can tell you that I held on to it until my last day in captivity, and that way I felt that you were with me all the time. Unfortunately, on the day of my release, the despicable men took it. The earring may have stayed in Gaza, but we are here, free."
To her, the reunion brought emotional closure, "Since I returned, my heart wasn't complete. I went to Maccabi games, but it just wasn't the same. Even when they won the championships, I felt empty since no victory is complete when you aren't here with me. Today, I can say loudly, only now am I free from captivity. Captivity of guilt; for the food I ate, the air I breathed, for every smile."
Damari concluded: "And now, to see you here free, breathing, smiling, it's a miracle. This is life. That is the strongest light there is. My Gali and Zivi - you are my heroes. We won. We survived. You get it??? We're here together! My heart fills with every one of your breaths. From today, we will never part. Welcome home, my brothers."