How much longer can this go on?: Hostage families plead for deal at Tel Aviv rally

Hostage families and their supporters hold two separate rallies in Tel Aviv to demand the release of their loved ones.

Speakers at both Hostages Square and in front of the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters accuse the government of derailing talks for a deal to bring home the captives.

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at Hostages Square, Yair Mozes, son of hostage Gadi Mozes, says that “again there are negotiations, and again we hear the prime minister and defense minister in public statements that just thwart the return of everyone.”

Israeli negotiators were reportedly dismayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement to the Wall Street Journal last weekend that he wouldn’t sign a deal that ended the war in Gaza, and Defense Minister Israel Katz’s statement from Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor on Wednesday that Israel would retain security control of the Strip.

“How much longer can this go on?” asks Mozes. “What more? Everyone already knows [the hostages] don’t have any time left.”

Outside the IDF headquarters — in front of a large, unlit Hanukkah menorah reading “action, not miracles” — Einav Zanaguker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, asks the crowd to close their eyes.

“I have a dream,” she says. “I have a dream my Matan and 99 other hostages come back to us.”

“I see the prime minister signing a deal to bring home all the hostages,” she continues.

“Now I ask you — don’t close your eyes,” she says. “Open them wide: our prime minister doesn’t want to bring back the hostages and end the war.”

The thousand-strong audience erupts in boos. As she ends her speech, Zangauker leads them in a chant: “Netanyahu don’t forget, history won’t forgive.”

The Begin Road crowd disperses after reading the names of the hostages. A group of Hasidic youngsters walks by, waving a massive flag of the Chabad sect’s messianic branch. The flag shows a crown over the word “Messiah” over a yellow background reminiscent of the color prominently used by the hostage families.

As the Hasidic group passes, Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of slain hostage Yoram Metzger, asks: “Where is our Messiah? Why isn’t he helping us?”