Hostage’s mom claims Mossad chief told her deal ‘impossible’ due to politics; agency denies

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a leading critic of the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Mossad director David Barnea has told her that a hostage deal is impossible to achieve in the current political reality.

Testifying before the unofficial commission of inquiry into the failure before, on and after the October 7 Hamas onslaught, Zangauker says that toward the end of a meeting around May, Barnea told her: “Dear Einav, unfortunately, in the current political constellation, a deal to release the hostages is impossible.”

“He explained this was because of politics,” she says.

The Mossad, in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, says that “the words attributed to the Mossad head weren’t spoken at all,” adding: “In his meeting with Einav Zangauker, the Mossad head did not refer to any political constellation in the context of the negotiations, as claimed.”

The statement says Barnea “is continuing to work to bring about a deal for the release of all hostages soon.”