From the Liveblog of
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Hostage’s mother: Netanyahu is lounging in a DC hotel while we watch a Holocaust reality show
Some 1,000 people protest outside the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, accusing the government of abandoning the hostages to certain death, after captives Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi returned to Israel this morning visibly emaciated.
The Begin Road protest, held down the block from Hostages Square, is bolstered by some 300 anti-government protesters who marched over from Habima Square, where they heard speeches from several public figures including The Democrats chief Yair Golan.
The Begin Road protesters accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to block the deal from progressing to its second phase — potentially leaving dozens in captivity — so his government stays intact. The premier, currently in Washington, decided not to commence talks on the second phase on Monday, as scheduled in the Gaza deal, reportedly to first discuss the matter with US President Donald Trump.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker has been held in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and is not up for release in the deal’s first phase — roars to the crowd: “I love you, but I’m boiling.”
“Our prime minister is lounging in a Washington hotel while we watch a Holocaust reality show,” she says, accusing Netanyahu of agreeing to a protracted deal specifically so he could back out of it.
“Instead of one comprehensive deal, Netanyahu gave us a long agreement that drags on for months and phases,” she says, adding: “We don’t need to wait week after week to watch this horrific reality show. Everyone could have been freed in one blow.”
“How has it been nearly 16 months and the negotiating team still has no mandate to discuss the second phase?” she asks. “Why do I need to travel to Washington to tell the US president that my prime minister wants to abandon the hostages?”
“Whoever doesn’t overturn tables to ensure the agreement is concluded in its entirety — whoever derails the agreement — will go down in infamy,” says Zangauker.
She yells her son’s name, telling him: “I’m doing everything to get you back home alive.”
Addressing all the hostages, she adds: “An entire nation fighting for you. Stay strong.”
Einav Zangauker now in Tel Aviv, urging Netanyahu to return all the hostages, without delay, after seeing the last three hostages returning emaciated and gaunt.
Her son Matan, is still in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/EW19howdmv— Manuela Rotstein (@ManuelaRotstein) February 8, 2025
Yifat Calderon, whose cousin Ofer Calderon was released last week under the hostage-ceasefire deal, says her relative endured hell in Gaza.
“It’s hell, make no mistake,” she says.
She says Netanyahu’s video statement on this morning’s hostage release, in which the prime minister pledged to topple Hamas, represents further stonewalling by the premier — “toppling Hamas on the backs of the hostages.”
She urges Trump to look at the skeletal faces of Levy, Ben Ami and Sharabi, and pressure Netanyahu into returning the 73 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 who remain in Gaza.
“If he keeps stonewalling, we’ll get more corpses, instead of living hostages,” she says.
