Eli Sharabi’s memoir, Hostage, which recounts the author’s experience in Hamas captivity for 491 days following October 7, has been named Book of the Year at the National Jewish Book Awards.
Detailing the survivor’s abduction from Kibbutz Be’eri and the period he was held prisoner in Gaza before his release in February 2025, the book became a bestseller in Israel before being released in English in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Presented by the Jewish Book Council in the US, the Book of the Year award recognises outstanding English-language books of Jewish interest across dozens of categories. The announcement comes ahead of London’s Jewish Book Week, which runs between February 28 and March 8 and this year marks its 75th anniversary.
Last October, Sharabi’s memoir reached number ten on the UK bestseller list. As well as documenting his traumatic abduction, the title catalogues his daily struggle to survive as a hostage, with most of his time in captivity spent underground in terror tunnels.
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