Mother of hostage receives call from man claiming Hamas affiliation

Bar Kupershtein, 23, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023 from the Nova Music Festival in Reim.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 2, 2025 20:15

Bar Abraham Kupershtein (Illustrative) (photo credit: Bring Them Home Now, Canva, REUTERS/FLORION GOGA)

A man who spoke Hebrew in a Persian accent and claimed to be a member of Hamas called Julie Kupershtein, the mother of hostage Bar Kupershtein, and threatened her, Kupershtein told Israeli public broadcaster KAN on Thursday.

“It was early in the morning," Kupershtein told KAN. "I got a phone call and someone on the other end asked, 'Bar's mother?' I was very offended.”

Bar Kupershtein, 23, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from the Nova Music Festival in Re'im.

The man who claimed to be a Hamas operative spoke in a threatening tone, Kupershtein told the state broadcaster.

'If you want to see Bar, go to The Hague'

If Kupershtein “wants to see Bar,” the man told her, she should to The Hague to testify that the Israeli military has been "murdering our children."

Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a prayer for the return of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site in the Old City of Jerusalem, March 21, 2024. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBEG/FLASH90)

According to Kupershtein, the man told her that she was "not doing enough" to bring Bar back home.

Kupershtein needed to “go out and protest in the streets and overthrow the government," the man reportedly added.