Herzog speaks with Musk, aiming to recruit Trump confidant to hostage deal cause
Source close to Israeli president says he made phone call at request of hostage families, who hope businessman can use his influence to help push for an agreement
President Isaac Herzog held a phone call with leading businessman Elon Musk earlier this week to raise the plight of the hostages in Gaza with the confidant of US President-elect Donald Trump, according to media reports Friday.
Herzog made the call at the request of hostage family members who hope Musk will be able to use his influence to pressure the parties involved to make a deal, CNN reported, citing a source close to the president.
“There was a chat between the president and a few hostage families, where one of the subjects discussed was influence on Trump, and Elon Musk’s name came up as someone of influence on Trump. Therefore, keeping an open channel with him is important,” a source close to the hostage families was quoted saying by the US broadcaster.
Musk met with family members and representatives of the hostages when he was hosted by Herzog during his visit to Israel last year, with the President’s Residence saying at the time that they were invited to “speak about the horrors of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and of the ongoing pain and uncertainty for those held captive.”
This week’s conversation between Herzog and Musk came after the president stressed the hostage issue during a call with Trump last month, when he noted “the very urgent need to advance the return of the Israeli hostages, who have been held captive by Hamas for 400 days in terrible suffering.”
Trump himself raised the matter this week, warning there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages are freed when he takes office on January 20.
It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in the Gaza Strip, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
