Likud Candidate's Outrageous Remark About Hamas Hostage Survivor Sparks Backlash

A candidate for the Likud party's Knesset list, Itzik Bonzel, has issued an apology after posting a comment on Facebook suggesting it would be preferable for an 88-year-old Hamas hostage survivor, Yocheved Lifshitz, to be returned to the group. Bonzel, whose son was killed in Gaza, initially wrote that he wished there was a way to turn back time and return Lifshitz to Hamas, calling her recent statements a "disgraceful display of ingratitude." He further stated that her hatred for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had caused her to lose her senses and disrespect those who rescued her.

Bonzel's comments were a response to an interview Lifshitz gave to Channel 13, in which she criticized Netanyahu's handling of the hostage situation and the October 7th attacks. Lifshitz stated that Netanyahu had not brought back any hostages and that Miriam Adelson had purchased them from Trump. She also warned that if the current government remained in power after the elections, it would be a disaster for the country. Her husband, Oded Lifshitz, was murdered in captivity by Islamic Jihad after they were both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th.

Following Bonzel's initial post, Lifshitz responded by accusing Netanyahu of sending his candidate to incite against her to distract from the warnings he received prior to the attacks. She asserted that the Israeli public understood Netanyahu was responsible for the failures of October 7th and that he had abandoned her and other hostages. She also invited the public to a rally at Hostages Square.

Bonzel later posted an apology, explaining that as a bereaved father, he was pained by Lifshitz's words which he felt disrespected the soldiers. However, in a fit of emotion, he wrote a sentence about Lifshitz in the context of Hamas that he did not intend and for which he apologized. He clarified that his son, Amit Bonzel, was killed in combat in Gaza on December 6, 2023.

Opposition figures, including Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan, condemned Bonzel's remarks. Eisenkot called it "another moral low" of the government and stated that anyone who wishes for an Israeli citizen to be returned to Hamas is unfit to lead. Golan urged Netanyahu to apologize to Lifshitz and explain the failures of his government, criticizing the recruitment of individuals who wish harm upon her.