Several hostage families have called for Israel’s chief negotiator, Gal Hirsch, after he suggested that mass protests in favour of a ceasefire and return deal during the Gaza War “helped Hamas”.
In the aftermath of the recovery and burial of Ran Gvili, the final remaining hostage, Hirsch, Prime Minister Netanyahu's hostage tsar, gave an interview to the Times of Israel reflecting on the more than two-year-long saga.
The Biden administration came in for particular criticism, especially the decision to suspend the export of some weapons and military equipment to Israel in 2024 over concerns about their use in Gaza.
"The night I heard about the embargo, I had a call with a very senior American while driving in the middle of the night. It was a very tough call," he recounted.
"I told him, bluntly — I don’t usually speak this way — 'what are you doing?'
"'You have American hostages there. Israeli-American citizens. Do you understand you’re screwing up the negotiations? You’re giving [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar exactly what he wants'."
And he suggested that Washington's continuing pressure on Jerusalem over how the Gaza War was conducted made Sinwar think he could drag out peace negotiations in the hope that Israel would lose the PR war on the world stage.
However, Hirsch sparked backlash when he suggested that weekly protests in Israel, attended by thousands, calling for a deal to return the hostages had a similar impact, even claiming that they "amplified" Hamas propaganda.
"Hamas acted to create a rift in Israeli society through very effective propaganda — and by creating the reverse picture — although they were stalling and not wanting to progress in negotiations and torpedoing deals, they pinned responsibility on us, that we were torpedoing negotiations and deals," he said.
In even more blunt terms, he told Haaretz: "The protests for the hostages helped Hamas. There was no need to create a feeling of urgency for us [to return them]."
In response, Einav Zangauker, mother of former hostage Matan Zangauker, said: "Lucky that President Trump thought differently, and thanks to him and thanks to our wonderful people who went out to fight for our values and didn’t give up, Matan is here at home."
Likewise, Or Levy, who was held in Gaza for 491 days, wrote on social media: "Gal Hirsch, shame on you! Who are you to speak about us or our families?
"Who are you to say anything to my 70-year-old parents, who had to tell a two-year-old baby that his mother [Or's wife Eynav] was murdered and his father ‘was lost’?
"Who are you to tell grieving parents that they could have gotten their children back alive but because of the negotiations, they lost their lives?"
A letter signed by former hostages Shani Goren, Arbel Yehoud, Ada Sagi, Nili Margalit, and Karina Engelbert, and more than 70 hostage relatives, has now called on Hirsch to resign from his post.
Elsewhere, in a separate hostage-related scandal, a mayor in southern Israel and several local officials have been arrested as part of a probe into the alleged misappropriation of donations given to aid the captives.
The suspects, who have not been named, are accused of involvement in embezzling millions of shekels intended to provide support for hostages and their families.
Detectives from the National Fraud Investigation Unit claim that the money “found [its] way into the private pockets of the mayor and his associates”.
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