Speaking Tuesday morning on ynet, Ranana said Ben-Gvir had “been among the few who opposed” the hostage deal and was now “wearing feathers that are not his and taking credit.” She said the minister was trying to claim political gain from the killing of one attacker among many who invaded her home, adding that the attack destroyed her family’s life “to the ground” and that the killing came “two and a half years too late.”
Yagil was kidnapped to Gaza on the day of the October 7 attack together with family members. His father, Yair, was also abducted, murdered in captivity, and his body later returned to Israel. Yagil and his brother Or, 16, were held by Hamas for more than 50 days before being released in the November 2023 hostage deal.
Ranana said her response was driven by anger at what she sees as a political attempt to take credit for something others fought to achieve. She stressed that the exchange that freed the children came at a steep price, with “three children for every one,” but said officials who were part of the government responsible for the abduction of 250 civilians, including her children, also bore responsibility for bringing them home.
She rejected the idea that Ben-Gvir had opposed the deal for the sake of the hostages, saying he had made “cold political calculations” then and now. She also said she had not heard any apology from him, only celebration over another militant killed, while residents of the Gaza border area still live under constant threat and no serious lessons have been learned since the massacre.
Ranana said Ben-Gvir’s claim that “we have not forgotten” rang hollow, asking where the practical help had been for families like hers, who cannot return to the Gaza envelope after the trauma. She said no minister contacted her after she answered him, and recalled that before the deal she had spoken with many elected officials, including all cabinet members, trying to persuade them to vote for it. The thought that some were prepared to leave her 12-year-old son in Khan Younis, she said, would stay with her forever.
