Hostage’s mother claims Mossad chief told her deal ‘impossible’ because of politics
Mossad denies Einav Zangauker’s claim; independent commission chairman Ofer Rosenbaum says government tried to enlist him to dismantle the Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Testifying before an independent civilian commission of inquiry on Tuesday, the mother of one of the 105 hostages remaining in Gaza claimed that Mossad director David Barnea had told her that a hostage deal is impossible to achieve in the current political reality. The Mossad later denied he had said this.
Recalling what she described as a private discussion with the intelligence chief around May, Einav Zangauker quoted Barnea as saying that “unfortunately, in the current political constellation, a deal to release the hostages is impossible.”
Barnea “explained this was because of politics,” she told the so-called civil commission of inquiry in Tel Aviv — possibly referencing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unwillingness to risk his government, which his far-right coalition partners have threaten to topple if he agrees to what they have characterized as a “reckless” deal.
Zangauker has been a leading critic of Netanyahu’s government, protesting and intensely lobbying members of his cabinet to support a deal to free her son Matan Zangauker and the rest of the hostages still held by Hamas.
With Netanyahu repeatedly putting off the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to investigate the failures of successive governments’ failures to prevent the October 7 attack, several groups representing survivors of the Hamas massacre and the families of those killed recently announced the formation of the independent probe, which they have said is aimed at “reaching the truth and preventing the next disaster.”
Following her comments, the Mossad, in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, denied Zangauker’s claims, stating that “the words attributed to the head of the Mossad weren’t spoken at all.”
“In his meeting with Einav Zangauker, the head of the Mossad did not refer to any political constellation in the context of the negotiations, as claimed,” the statement continued — adding that Barnea “is continuing to work to bring about a deal for the release of all hostages soon.”
Israel’s senior security are said to have been critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the negotiations, reportedly telling him late last month that his insistence on new terms would sabotage the ceasefire-hostage release deal currently under negotiation.
When Barnea, who has been leading Israel’s negotiations on a deal, informed the prime minister at a top-level meeting that there is a deal ready and that Israel must take it, Netanyahu reportedly shouted down his security chiefs, banging on the table and telling them that they were lousy negotiators — a claim later denied by the Prime Minister’s Office.
After a three-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Monday, Netanyahu put out a statement publicly backing the latest US “bridging proposal” that was presented to Israel and conveyed to Hamas at the end of talks in Doha last week.
Netanyahu told Blinken in their meeting — which his office described as “positive” — that he would send his top negotiators to a summit in Cairo later this week, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
The team will be led by Barnea, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and IDF hostage point man Nitzan Alon — although it appears that Hamas has rejected the latest version of the deal.
Also addressing the commission was its chairman and public relations guru Ofer Rosenbaum, who claimed that he had received a phone call from an “well-known source in the government” who tried to enlist his help in dismantling the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of those kidnapped on October 7.
“We saw that they were trying to silence them,” he said.
Zangauker and Rosenbaum’s testimony came on the heels of the IDF’s announcement that it had recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages abducted by terrorists on October 7, including one previously believed alive.
Following the IDF’s announcement, Mati Dancyg, the body of whose father Alex Dancyg was one of those recovered, accused Netanyahu’s government of “choosing to abandon the hostages in order to survive.”
It is now believed that 105 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Addressing the return of the bodies, Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat is being held in Gaza, told the committee that he believes the government missed repeated opportunities to free the hostages, leading to some being murdered in captivity.
“Some will say, and I can’t testify personally, but even on October 9 there was an opportunity to return the hostages, and the opportunity was not taken,” he said, referring to claims that Hamas had offered to return the hostages to forestall an Israeli ground offensive.
Dickmann also accused Netanyahu of showing a greater willingness to meet with groups like the Heroism Forum, a group representing bereaved families pushing for increased military pressure on Hamas, than with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“It is in the interest of those who want to weaken the power of the families to make it appear as if there are as many disagreements between us as possible,” he said.
Times of Israel staff and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
