Likud Candidate Tells Former Hamas Hostage She Should Be Returned to Captivity

A candidate for the Israeli Knesset, Likud party member Yitzik Bunzel, stated that he wished former Hamas hostage Yoheved Lifshitz could be returned to captivity. Bunzel, ranked 29th on the Likud list, posted his remarks on Facebook on Monday, September 28, following an interview Lifshitz gave to Channel 13.

Lifshitz, 88, had said in the interview, "Bibi [Netanyahu] didn't return a single hostage, Miriam Adelson bought us from Trump. If this government remains after the elections, it will be a disaster for the country." She was referring to Adelson, an Israeli-American billionaire and major donor to Donald Trump, who had urged the US president to secure the release of hostages. Lifshitz's comment about Adelson "buying us from Trump" was a metaphor, attributing the hostages' return to Adelson's influence on the US president rather than Netanyahu's actions.

In response, Bunzel, whose son Amit was killed in Gaza fighting in December 2024, wrote, "Hundreds of heroes went to hell to bring you back alive... Some of them never returned. Our sons paid with their lives so you could sit peacefully in your home. How pathetic, outrageous, and detached from reality are your words." He added, "I have never written in such a tone, but how I wish time could be turned back and you could be returned to Hamas. Looking at this display of ingratitude, it seems you simply did not deserve for our dear sons to give their lives for you."

Bunzel accused Lifshitz's hatred of Netanyahu of having "deprived you of reason, destroyed the remnants of morality and shame, and trampled on the memory of those who saved you at the cost of their lives." He concluded that "remaining silent in the face of such baseness is an unforgivable sin."

Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper were released by Hamas on October 23, 2024, with the group claiming it was a goodwill gesture for humanitarian reasons. Lifshitz's husband, Oded, who was abducted with her from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was killed in captivity.