Hostage negotiator who works 'in the shadows' will speak at St. Louis Jewish Book Festival
Mickey Bergman has advocated for the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from Russia, and he's fighting to help hostages in Gaza.
The work is never black and white, he says: "It's never about good and evil. It's never about an ultimate value you pursue — it's about clashing values."
He calls his work "fringe diplomacy" because it's behind the scenes. Bergman isn't a government official but still spends years trying to get Americans out of foreign jails where they've been wrongfully detained.
As he writes in his book "In the Shadows": "To be successful, we need to get inside the heads of some of the world's most infamous leaders and strongmen so we can figure out how we can most effectively influence them. To tap the humanity inside them."
Bergman, 48, will talk about his work and book as a headliner at this year's St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, which runs Nov. 2-17. His work regarding the Oct. 7 hostages in Gaza will be a timely part of his address.
In a Zoom interview from his home in Arlington, Virginia, he said he would tell the story of Danny Fenster, a journalist accused of sedition after the 2021 coup in Myanmar.
He wants to explain some of the process of negotiating and the role of emotional intelligence and personalities.
Included in that may be Bergman's own personality. He says that negotiators are different. Calling himself a "semi-introvert," Bergman says he's not a "bully" and doesn't "bluff."
"I go in with vulnerabilities and make emotional connections."
But he knows that the audience will likely be more interested in what he has to say about the hostages held in Gaza for over a year. In that case, it's not only Hamas that he criticizes.
Although Hamas is responsible for taking the hostages when it invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Bergman, who was born in Tel Aviv and served in the Israeli Defense Services, says, "the reason they aren't home is because Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't want to make a deal." The Israeli president has refused to accept a deal that was delivered to him, one that Bergman says would have required Israel to withdraw (but that wouldn't necessarily have prevented it from returning to war with Hamas).
The first 54 days of negotiations after the invasion successfully led to the release of 105 civilians of 251 people held. But in the time since, Bergman says, he's had to get families to accept that they must try to work on a deal that "bypasses Netanyahu" for the remaining hostages.
According to him, four American hostages are believed alive along with 40 to 60 others. He thinks that number is on the lower end.
Hamas has little reason to keep the hostages alive, he says, since Israel has denied its demands. And if a soldier has "a piece of pita bread, he's not going to give it to a hostage but to his own family."
Bergman works for a nonprofit company called Global Reach, which focuses on releasing Americans "wrongfully detained" in foreign countries (the term used by the U.S. State Department). It does not charge the families any money (Global Reach is financed by Steve Menzies, founder of Applied Underwriters.)
Global Reach's website says, "We work in support of U.S. government efforts when it is possible and advocate to get government action when it is necessary, but our only responsibility is to the family of the person being held."
Although his focus is on Americans, there are exceptions, Bergman says. Regarding Gaza, he's worked on behalf of 67 families.
When he started, he worked for former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's Richardson Center for Global Engagement. Richardson, who died in September 2023, had also been U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Richardson's death is an epilogue to "In the Shadows," which was published before the release of Paul Whelan in August. Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 and accused of spying. But the book includes a photo of Bergman hugging basketball player Brittany Griner, who was arrested in Russia for carrying vaping cartridges of medically prescribed marijuana.
"In the Shadows" describes in detail the efforts Bergman and Richardson made on her behalf, approaching the U.S. government with Russia's requests. The governments eventually agreed to exchange an arms dealer imprisoned in the U.S. for Griner.
Bergman will speak at the book festival at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Jewish Community Center. Three other authors are described as headliners:
Many diverse authors make up the November festival. They include Adam Nimoy, "The Most Human: Reconciling With My Father, Leonard Nimoy"; Brian Levant, "50 years of 'Happy Days"; Karen Kirsten, "Irena's Gift: An Epic World War II Memoir of Sisters, Secrets, and Survival"; and Noah Gittell, "Baseball: The Movie."
For the complete lineup, and all event details, go to jccstl.com
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