Netanyahu Criticized for Blaming Hostage Survivor

A new low has been reached, according to the author, a relative of hostages and murder victims, following a statement made by a Netanyahu envoy towards Yocheved Lifshitz, an 88-year-old former hostage. The envoy reportedly wished Lifshitz a return to the 'hell' she endured, where her husband Oded, also a hostage, died. This incident occurs amidst ongoing revelations about numerous warnings Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly received prior to the October 7th attacks, which the author claims he ignored.

The author asserts that Netanyahu has been evading responsibility for three years, employing tactics of division and incitement, including allegedly manipulating the families of victims against each other. Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper were initially offered for release by Hamas due to their age and poor health, but Israel reportedly refused. Despite this, they were eventually returned, while Lifshitz's husband Oded and the author's brother Itai were not, and are presumed to have died in captivity. The author highlights that 44 other hostages also did not return alive.

Lifshitz is described as a woman of integrity who cannot be politically manipulated. The author, drawing on personal experience within Knesset committees, accuses Netanyahu's government of attempting to normalize messages that send massacre victims back to their attackers. The piece argues that Netanyahu would have preferred grateful or silent families of hostages, but Lifshitz's truthfulness prevents this.

The author concludes by stating Netanyahu is responsible for the massacre, over 1,200 deaths, the abduction of 251 people, and the deaths of 46 who did not return alive. The upcoming elections are framed not as a left-right issue, but as a choice between destruction and a path toward repair, which begins with truth, responsibility, and valuing human life. The envoy later apologized and deleted his statement, but the author deems the shame indelible, questioning the narrative of a 'war to return the hostages' when so many did not survive.