Hostage Survivor's Son Defends Mother Amid Controversy

Yizhar Lifschitz, son of former hostage Yocheved Lifschitz, has spoken out amid public backlash following his mother's controversial statements. Yocheved Lifschitz recently claimed in an interview that "Bibi did not bring back any hostages" and that "Miriam Adelson bought us from Trump." These remarks drew sharp criticism, including a deleted post from Likud candidate Yitzhak Bonzel, who initially wrote that he wished there was a way to return her to Hamas's hands, later apologizing.

Yizhar Lifschitz acknowledged in a radio interview that he too found his mother's statements difficult to hear, admitting "I was also horrified" when she said Adelson returned the hostages. However, he asserted that his mother is entitled to say whatever she believes. He urged listeners to consider her life story and sacrifices, noting that she "put her life in the most dangerous place to settle the Negev."

Lifschitz emphasized his belief that one can hold patriotic and security-focused views while maintaining humanistic values and Jewish ethics. "You can be a patriot and a fighter and still believe you need to remain a humane person. You don't want to be like the other side. What protects us is our morality," he stated, adding that this principle guided his parents, for whom protecting the Jewish people was paramount. His father, Oded Lifschitz, was abducted from Nir Oz on October 7 and murdered in captivity, his body returned in February 2025.

During the interview, Lifschitz appealed for an end to the political polarization surrounding the issue, asking listeners not to frame the debate as another left-right conflict. He also issued a stark warning about the state's conduct since the October 7th attacks, suggesting that a failure to investigate and accountability could lead to future disasters. He lamented that his community in Nir Oz is still living with the trauma of the massacre, questioning why it was destroyed. Yocheved Lifschitz was released from Hamas captivity on October 23, 2023, after 17 days, along with Nurit Cooper, through mediation by Qatar and Egypt, not as part of a military operation.