Brother of slain captive: PM ‘beat me in the battle for my brother’s life’

Dani Elgarat accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning his older brother, hostage Itzik Elgarat, who will be laid to rest on Monday after his body was returned to Israel early Thursday.

“Bibi, Bibi,” says Elgarat, using the premier’s nickname, as he addresses some 1,000 protesters outside the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. “You beat me in the battle for the life of my brother, but we will beat you in the fight for the life of the country.”

“We won’t let you sacrifice the country on the altar of your rule,” he says.

“You, Benjamin Netanyahu, built up and armed Hamas. You put the country to sleep. You said Hamas was deterred as it has never been,” he says.

דני אלגרט. אחיו של איציק כשלצידו בתו של איציק מניף את האגרוף עכשיו בבגין ואומר: ״

ביבי, ניצחת אותי בקרב על חיי אחי, אנחנו ננצח אותך במערכה על חיי המדינה״ ????️???????? pic.twitter.com/QyCTLgUeNP

— ????️????????חגית קלימן – Hagit Klaiman????????????️???? (@klaiman14) March 1, 2025

He accuses the premier of cynically using the deaths in captivity of Shiri Bibas and her young sons Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were returned to Israel last week.

“You used the blood of the Bibas family for your public relations,” he says, as the crowd jeers. “Shame on you! Go home! Enough!”

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matam Zangauker, rails against the “sadistic government.”

דני אלגרט הערב בבגין#מחזיריםאתכולםהביתה #מחדל_נתניהו pic.twitter.com/JZMRy7zxsq

— Rani S.cohen (@RaniScohen1) March 1, 2025

She says senior officials have told her Netanyahu was “aware of all the torture the hostages have undergone.”

Following released captive Eli Sharabi’s testimony that his conditions were worsened in response to Israeli leaders’ touting of worsened conditions for detained Hamas operatives, Zangauker adds that “Netanyahu remained silent… and let the abuse of our hostages continue.”