Tal Schneider is a Political Correspondent at The Times of Israel
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has asked Yaron Blum — the chief negotiator for the release of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip — to remain in the position, reports Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s sister site.
The Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group is believed to be holding Israeli citizens Avraham Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, as well as the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed during the 2014 war in the Strip.
Some families of the missing have been highly critical of Blum. Goldin’s mother, Lea Goldin, has accused him to lying to the families and receiving a salary from the state without really working.
People familiar with recent contacts between Israel, Egypt and Hamas on the captives tell Zman Yisrael that just as in the previous government, Israel is looking for the appearance of progress on the matter so it can return to speaking about rebuilding Gaza and an arrangement to lower tensions.
Israel has conditioned reconstruction efforts in Gaza following last month’s 11-day military conflict on the return of the captives and the soldiers’ bodies.
Yaron Blum on April 3, 2019 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
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