Hostage Families Accuse Netanyahu of Using Their Murdered Loved Ones for Election Propaganda

By רועי רובינשטיין

Translated & summarized from Ynet by baba

CenterCharged tone

Hebrew · 4 newsrooms covering

Families of hostages murdered in Gaza have penned an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him and the Likud party of exploiting their loved ones for election campaign purposes. They specifically condemned the use of the phrase "we returned them all," emphasizing that their relatives' bodies were returned in coffins. The families highlighted that 46 hostages abducted alive did not return alive, attributing their deaths to political decisions. They urged Netanyahu to stop using their deceased relatives for political gain and to take responsibility for the failures of October 7th.

The story in 5 lines · by baba

Families of murdered hostages demand PM Netanyahu stop using their loved ones for election propaganda.
They condemn the phrase "we returned them all," stating bodies, not people, were returned.
46 hostages abducted alive on October 7th did not return alive, families claim.
A billboard campaign features photos of six murdered hostages with the heading "We did not come home."
Signatories accuse the government of failing to take responsibility for the October 7th failures.

Hostage Families Accuse Netanyahu of Using Their Murdered Loved Ones for Election Propaganda — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

Families of hostages murdered in Gaza have publicly written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party, demanding they cease using the phrase "we returned them all" in their election campaign. The families stated, "You returned them all? You did not return our loved ones. Their bodies returned in coffins." The letter, published a week before the elections, coincides with a billboard campaign on the Ayalon highway featuring photos of six murdered hostages under the heading "We did not come home." The families described the October 7th events as the greatest failure in Israeli history, occurring under Netanyahu's "full-right" government. They highlighted that 46 hostages abducted alive on October 7th did not return alive, asserting that political decisions left them in captivity, leading to their deaths. "46 is not just a number. These are our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, the people we loved most," they wrote, adding that these individuals were abandoned to murderers and suffered in Hamas tunnels. The families implored Netanyahu to stop using their loved ones for election propaganda, stating, "Do not use their deaths to ask the public for another term." They accused Likud and Netanyahu of attempting to turn their loved ones' deaths into a political success story and of failing to apologize or take responsibility, instead trying to cover up the failure. Two signatories, Michal Lobanov, wife of Alex Lobanov, and Nira Sarusi, mother of Almog Sarusi, both abducted from the Nova music festival and murdered in Gaza tunnels, released video messages. Lobanov stated, "I am here to remind you of Alex who could have returned alive, and did not." Sarusi expressed her anger at the phrase "we returned all the hostages," arguing, "You returned them dead. Is that what you are proud of?" She added, "The sentence you boast about is one you should be ashamed of."