‘A disgrace they’re still there’: Dad of hostage Rom Braslavski says he’s stopped believing Netanyahu

Ofir Braslavski, father of hostage Rom Braslavski, who was taken hostage from the Nova desert rave on October 7, 2023, and is still held in Gaza by Palestinian terrorists, joins a protest sit-in organized by the Shift 101 group, near the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

“Three weeks ago, a video of Rom was released, and he spoke about how a selekzia is made among the hostages, and why one is worth more and another less,” says Braslavski, referring to the Nazi process of separating family members during the Holocaust and deciding who would be murdered and who would be taken for forced labor.

“We, the state, are to blame. For a year and seven months, he has been buried there; we failed to identify him. Until now, I avoided speaking about politics and the prime minister, but this is it — it’s a disgrace that they are still there. The prime minister now says he will negotiate under fire — I’ve stopped believing him,” he says of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I keep praying, and with God’s help, he will come back.”

Twenty minutes later, sirens ring throughout central Israel and Jerusalem, warning of a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis from Yemen, and the Shift 101 participants keep sitting on the ground, some lying down, without cover from the rocket attack.