Hostage’s mother urges defense chiefs to reveal ‘what goes on’ in negotiations for deal

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, calls on Defense Minister Yova Galant and other top security figures to reveal to the public the content of negotiations to retrieve Israelis in Hamas captivity.

“I say to the defense minister, the chief of staff, the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad and Major General Nitzan Alon: your silence means you are party to the deliberate abandonment of the security and future of the state. Without the hostages’ return, there will be no revival and no state,” she tells thousands of people attending the weekly rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

She accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “deliberately thwarting a deal and trying to bury the hostages” and calls on the defense establishment figures she named to “call a press conference and reveal what goes on behind closed doors” concerning the negotiations.

After Zangauker’s address, Rami Beja, the emcee of the weekly demonstration for the hostages, addresses the crowd with a reference to Netanyahu’s trip yesterday from Washington to Florida to meet with presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“The distance between Washington and Miami Beach is much longer than the distance between Jerusalem and Nir Oz so when you land go to Nir Oz,” Beja says, adding the word “bitch” in English.