Hostages Forum: Israel faces ‘lost opportunity of the century’ because of insistence on war

The Hostages and Missing Families forum warns that “Israel faces the ‘lost opportunity of the century,'” a play on US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” peace plan, responding to reports in recent days that Israel would be left out of a major defense deal between Washington and Saudi Arabia.

“The government must adopt a broad regional deal that will bring change to the Middle East, end the war, and return all the 59 hostages,” the forum says in a statement.

“The historic opportunity will go down the drain due to the insistence [by the government] to continue the war and abandon the hostages,” the forum says. “The government is acting against Trump’s policies and in complete opposition to the wishes of the vast majority of the Israeli public.”

The statement comes after sources told Reuters that the US is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks.