After meeting in DC, hostage’s brother-in-law says not convinced the captives are PM’s main priority

After taking part in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with hostage families in Washington on Wednesday, the brother-in-law of captive Omri Miran says he’s “not convinced” that the Israeli premier has placed the hostages at the top of his priorities.

Moshe Lavi publishes the critique in response to an X post from Netanyahu, which summed up the meeting the prime minister held with the hostage families.

“Their pain is the pain of an entire nation,” Netanyahu wrote, adding that he made sure that the issue remained on the agenda throughout his meetings with Trump in Washington.

“We are working with all our might to return all the hostages — both living and dead. We will not rest until we bring everyone home,” the premier wrote.

In his response to Netanyahu, Lavi shares what he told the prime minister during their Wednesday meeting: “the fate of the hostages and our social contract are at stake if you choose a partial [hostage deal] again, and not the formula that the Trump administration claims is possible — the return of all 50, even at the cost of ending the war.”

Trump officials have not publicly come out against the partial ceasefire framework that Netanyahu prefers in order to hold onto the option of resuming the war. However, hostage families have told The Times of Israel that US officials have told them that they believe Israel is in a position to end the war and deal with what is left of Hamas’s military capabilities at a later period.

Hamas officials have said they would release all remaining Israeli hostages in one batch if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire.

Netanyahu has rejected the exchange, insisting that he will only end the war if a varying list of conditions are met, namely Hamas surrendering and giving up its arms. He also faces pressure from far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he agrees to end the war.