Families complain of emotional turmoil after PM’s hostage deal ‘fake-out’

Relatives of hostages are complaining of feeling toyed with by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he seemed to tease the possibility of a hostage deal, only to dash their hopes.

“When the prime minister speaks about it, we understand that perhaps something real is happening,” Herut Nimrodi, the mother of hostage Tamir Nimrodi, tells Army Radio. “This has stirred up all the families.”

Eli Albag, the father of former hostage Liri Albag, tells Channel 12 news that one hostage relative “tried to do something to himself” after the rug was pulled out from under him, without elaborating.

“The families started to get happy, they were as happy as one can get, but quickly they realized it was just blather, with no significance,” he says. This put them in an extreme emotional state, he says

He accused the premier of being irresponsible, noting that he is “not just some tweeter” and that his words carry weight.

“Every word kills,” he says. “The families don’t have strength anymore. Six hundred days is too many.”

Netanyahu’s comments came at the tail end of a video released Monday in which he announced, “I really hope we can announce something regarding the hostages, if not today, then tomorrow.”

After anxious queries from families, his office walked back the comments, saying they should not be seen as a signal of an impending deal.

Einat Angrest, the mother of hostage Matan Angrest, tells the Kan public broadcaster that “from Netanyahu’s tone, I understood that he was not talking about tomorrow, but rather the future.”

She says soldiers fighting for Israel should know that if they are captured “not a single minister or Knesset member will fight for them, even if they are tortured, even if they are violently interrogated, none of them will care.”