Captivity survivor Maxim Herkin was interviewed Thursday evening on Channel 12’s “Uvda” program, where he shared how he survived his time in Hamas captivity by concealing his identity as an IDF officer, fearing that disclosure would cost him his life.
Herkin recalled moments of hope when he was able to listen to broadcasts from Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) and realized that Israel had not forgotten the hostages.
He also exposed the behind-the-scenes reality of Hamas propaganda: “They smeared me with tomato paste, put a bandage on me, poured sand, and said: ‘If you want to get out of here, cooperate with us.’”
“All the videos released by Hamas were staged,” he said. “Blood? That’s tomato paste. And when you’re starving to death, you ask why they’re wasting it on you,” he added with a smile.
Referring to one video that allegedly showed him being rescued from rubble following IDF bombings, Herkin dismissed it as fiction. “That’s a fairy tale,” he said, explaining that he was filmed being pulled from debris and fitted with an oxygen mask. His family, he noted, quickly realized the footage was fabricated.
“Do you really think they pull me from rubble and I start talking about how hard it is to breathe?” he asked. “I’d be cursing in Russian like crazy - that’s natural. There’s no way I’d be speaking Hebrew after being pulled from the rubble. So my family understood it was fake.”
Later in the interview, Herkin described how he suffered violence from his guards whenever National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly addressed the issue of prison conditions for terrorists.
He said he was beaten at least four or five times following such statements, and his captors told him, “This is because of Ben Gvir.” On one occasion, they even wrote on his back, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and said they would send the photo to the minister.
“I’m not a political person,” Herkin said. “But my understanding is - if you’re a minister, a government representative, you should be careful with your words. It’s important to learn a lesson - and in the future - to choose people who are for the people, not against. That’s what I think.”
The program ended with Herkin’s emotional reunion with his daughter, who had traveled from Russia to see him. Their meeting concluded with a heartfelt embrace and a walk along the seashore.