Friends of ‘abandoned’ ex-hostage Ofer Calderon raise NIS 3 million in a day to help him rebuild life

A crowdfunding campaign launched on Friday for former hostage Ofer Calderon raised over NIS 3 million (approximately $900,00) in just one day – more than double its initial goal of NIS 1.5 million ($450,000).

As of Saturday evening, over 13,800 people had contributed to the campaign, entitled “Ofer just wants to return to life,” organized by Calderon’s friends and cycling group, ‘The Smurfs,’ in cooperation with the nonprofit Lehoshit Yad.

Calderon, a father of four, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, when Hamas terrorists stormed his home and kidnapped him along with his 16-year-old daughter Sahar and 12-year-old son Erez.

He fled with his children through the window of their safe room and hid in the bushes for hours before being discovered, beaten, and separated from his children as they were dragged into Gaza.

“The morning of October 7 is the moment my life shattered. Before my eyes, while I was wounded and bleeding, Hamas terrorists kidnapped my children,” Calderon wrote in an Instagram post on Friday. “The moment they were ripped from me is a nightmare that returns every night and never leaves.”

He was held captive for 484 days, a period he described as one of “hunger, humiliation, violence, and above all, terrible uncertainty that I might never get to tell my children how much I love them and how sorry I am that I wasn’t there for them.”

Since returning to Israel following his release in February, Calderon has been living in Kiryat Gat, where displaced residents of Nir Oz — the hardest-hit community on October 7 — have been temporarily relocated.

He has been left without a functioning home or any means of earning a living. His carpentry shop, which he built with his own hands, was destroyed, and the psychological trauma of his captivity has left him unable to return to Nir Oz or to work.

“I have no way to support my family. Every night the anxieties return, and I’m just waiting for the light to come so I can start fighting again,” he wrote.

The campaign says Calderon suffers from nightmares, flashbacks, and severe emotional distress, and even simple daily activities — such as riding a bicycle — have become unbearable. “He feels like a stranger even doing the simplest things that once came naturally,” his friends wrote.

“They abandoned me. They abandoned us,” wrote Calderon. “But I won’t let that feeling control me. I put shame aside and will do everything to feel like a father again – one who can protect his children.”

The fundraising effort aims to contribute to stable housing, emotional and psychological support, and the resources to open a new carpentry workshop as part of Calderon’s recovery.

“We can’t stand by and watch him wither before our eyes,” wrote members of Calderon’s longtime cycling group.

“Please, don’t leave Ofer alone in this struggle… Now he needs us just as we stood by him when he was in captivity,” they continued.

Calderon wrote that the campaign is to help him “rebuild my life, support my family with dignity, and give my children their father back.”

All donations are being collected by Lehoshit Yad, a registered Israeli nonprofit, and 100% of the funds will go toward Calderon’s recovery, including housing, therapy, and long-term support.

In an interview with Channel 12 broadcast Friday, Calderon said he was held in tunnels underground and allowed above ground for only a few hours during his entire time in captivity.

He was released as part of the last ceasefire-hostage deal’s first phase in which Hamas released 33 women, children, civilian men over 50, and those deemed “humanitarian cases,” in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including at least 270 serving life terms in connection with the murders of dozens of Israelis.

The deal’s 42-day first phase expired on March 2 amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second, which would have required a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — a red line for the premier’s far-right coalition partners.

Calderon said he initially thought his entire family in Nir Oz had died in the massacre — including Sahar and Erez. However, three weeks into captivity, Calderon met fellow captive Rimon Kirsht, who told him she had been held together with Sahar, and later found out that Erez was also alive.

Erez and Sahar were released in the weeklong truce-hostage deal of November 2023, in which Hamas freed 105 women and children in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip still hold 50 hostages, including 49 of those abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.

At least 28 hostages have been confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.

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