Bar Kupershtein smiles and laughs as if he hasn’t spent the last two years in “hell,” as he describes it, his demeanor belying the time he spent in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza .

“I prefer to take things with humor and laughter, to be happy with my family, and to look forward, not back,” the 23-year-old security guard who was kidnapped from the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023 , told CNN, hours before boarding a flight to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.

It’s the same resolve that made him stay behind during the terror attack, aiding the wounded partygoers, until he was ultimately shot and kidnapped by Hamas. Despite the enormous hardship he endured, he says he would do the exact same thing again.

“I was responsible for the safety of all the partygoers”’ he

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