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Former hostage Rom Braslavski has revealed for the first time the intense religious pressure he endured while being held captive by terrorists, describing repeated efforts to persuade him to convert to Islam and the profound spiritual transformation that instead led him to embrace Judaism.

Speaking in an interview with Channel 14, Braslavski said his captors relentlessly urged him to abandon his faith.

“All day they talked to you about Muhammad, the Quran, ‘Come join us. You’re wrong and we’re right,'” Braslavski recounted. “They tried to convince me to convert to Islam many times.”

Braslavski said the pressure was not limited to him, claiming that many Jewish hostages ultimately agreed to convert as a survival tactic.

“At least 60% of the Jewish hostages converted to Islam in captivity. They said it was just a game. And I admit that I also considered it. But I told myself, ‘G-d in heaven is looking at you and knows everything. I will not play this game.’ I decided not only would I not convert to Islam, but I would touch on their sensitive issues.”

Rather than distancing himself from Judaism during captivity, Braslavski said the ordeal inspired him to become more committed to his faith.

“Before October 7, I wasn’t a person of faith. I didn’t keep Shabbat. I grew up in Neve Yaakov, which is a very haredi neighborhood, but I went against the current. My family is still like that to this day. On October 7, I fully returned to religion.”

Braslavski also recounted an unexpected conversation with a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad sheikh, whom he approached for guidance because he could no longer remember the traditional Jewish prayers.

“I told him, ‘Listen, I want to pray to G-d, but I don’t remember the prayers-they’re long and in the siddur.’ He told me, ‘Take what you remember and create your own prayer.’ Since then, I repeated, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me,’ several times a day. I also said another few lines that were etched in my memory from the prayer book. That’s how I built my own prayer, and I prayed three times a day.”

According to Braslavski, the issue of conversion resurfaced later in his captivity, when the same sheikh encouraged him to adopt Muslim prayer practices.

When the subject of conversion came up again, Braslavski said the sheikh told him, “Pray five times a day, like us.”

Braslavski said he politely refused, determined to remain faithful to Jewish practice despite the circumstances.

“I said, ‘No, we pray three times a day,'” he recounted. “Today, there hasn’t been a single Shabbat that I haven’t observed. I observe every Shabbat, and I will continue to keep [Shabbat] for the rest of my life.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington later this week for another meeting with President Donald Trump, according to assessments within the Prime Minister’s Office. If the visit takes place as planned, it will mark the eighth meeting between the two leaders since President Trump returned to the White House, underscoring the close relationship and frequent coordination between Israel and Washington.

The anticipated visit follows a phone call between the two leaders on Friday, during which they agreed to meet in the near future. A separate Israeli delegation is also expected to travel to the United States for additional consultations on Iran, although officials believe the two visits will be conducted on separate schedules.

The Iranian nuclear program is expected to top the agenda, along with a range of regional security issues. Israeli officials view close coordination with the Trump administration as essential in shaping policy toward Tehran, particularly following recent developments in the region and ongoing efforts to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities.

Another major topic is expected to be the growing relationship between the United States and Turkey. Israeli officials are closely monitoring President Trump’s anticipated visit to Ankara and are particularly concerned about the possibility that Washington could restore defense cooperation with Turkey, including approving the sale of F-35 fighter jets or other advanced military systems.

Those concerns stem from Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program in 2019 after purchasing the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, a move that prompted U.S. fears that sensitive information about the stealth aircraft could be exposed to Russia. Despite that history, the Trump administration is reportedly examining ways to rebuild defense ties with Ankara, including a potential agreement to sell F-110 engines for Turkey’s domestically produced KAAN fighter jet.

Also in the background are the warm personal ties between President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to an Associated Press report, President Trump suggested that his expected visit to Ankara following the 36th NATO Summit could include a major announcement benefiting Erdogan.

When asked whether he would arrive with “a big bag of gifts,” President Trump responded, “Yes, I think so. I’ll probably do something that will make him very happy.”

Israeli officials are also watching Turkey’s increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel. Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told CNN Türk that Israel has become a burden on the international community, accusing it of destabilizing the region and declaring that Turkey is not afraid of a confrontation with the Jewish state. His comments followed a series of previous anti-Israel statements by President Erdogan.

Against that backdrop, officials in Yerushalayim view Netanyahu’s expected meeting with President Trump as an important opportunity to present Israel’s concerns directly to the administration. Alongside discussions about Iran, the prime minister is expected to stress the potential security implications of expanding U.S.-Turkey defense cooperation, particularly if Washington approves the sale of advanced military systems to Ankara.

{Matzav.com}

The Knesset House Committee on Sunday began preparing the proposed Basic Law: Torah Study for its second and third readings, as lawmakers debated whether the legislation would serve merely as a declaration of principle or carry significant legal consequences.

The revised bill, following comments from the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, states that Torah study is a fundamental value of the heritage of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. The legislation seeks to formally recognize Torah study as a foundational national value and establish it as a consideration alongside other fundamental values in Israeli law.

During the committee discussion, Knesset Legal Adviser Adv. Sagit Afik said it had not been made clear during earlier deliberations whether the proposal was intended to be purely declarative or to have practical legal effect.

Because the proposal is a Basic Law, Afik warned that it could have implications beyond a symbolic statement. She said the committee’s discussions ahead of the second and third readings would help define the legislature’s intent and stressed that if lawmakers do not intend for the law to have operative consequences, that should be stated explicitly in the legislation.

Deputy Attorney General Adv. Avital Sompolinsky echoed that position, saying that if the proposal is intended only as a declarative statement, it should be drafted differently.

Representatives of Israel’s Finance Ministry cautioned that the legislation could have significant economic ramifications if courts interpret it as having practical legal force.

The ministry’s legal adviser, Dudi Kopel, warned that if the law were interpreted as giving Torah study precedence over the principle of equality, it could affect military conscription policy, government spending related to those subject to the draft, and eligibility for benefits granted to Torah scholars.

Rom Brav of the Finance Ministry’s Budget Department added that the legislation could be used to justify policies that conflict with Israel’s broader economic interests, particularly regarding the integration of chareidi men into military service and the workforce.

Brav also presented economic data showing that each month of reserve duty costs the Israeli economy an average of approximately 50,000 shekels per reservist. He said the economic cost of reserve service since the beginning of the war has reached roughly 170 billion shekels, with an additional 115 billion shekels in government expenditures.

He warned that if the law were interpreted to permit draft exemptions or restore benefits to those subject to military service, it could place an even greater burden on reservists and active-duty soldiers while harming the Israeli economy.

During the discussion, MK Yinon Azulai asked whether the proposed Basic Law would itself exempt chareidim from military service. Afik responded that it would not and explained that any exemption from military service would require separate legislation.

Azulai said the purpose of the proposal was to provide judges with “another weight on the scale” when balancing the value of equality against the value of Torah study.

MK Yitzchak Pindrus said the law is intended to serve as a “signpost” for the judiciary, giving Torah study the status of a fundamental value to be weighed alongside other constitutional principles.

MK Moshe Abutbul emphasized that the Jewish people must always have “a tribe devoted exclusively to Torah study.”

“There is the sefer and there is the sword,” he said, “and both descended from Heaven bound together.”

{Matzav.com}