From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 17, 2024
In Knesset, hopeful hostage relatives cite increased willingness for deal with Hamas
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Hostage family members, in a series of committee meetings in the Knesset, say there is a strong sense of disappointment with the government and with its lack of leadership and absence of decision-making, even among members of more right-leaning family groups who have been less vocal about criticizing the leadership.
“We heard from [hostage parent] Tzvika Mor, who is a member of the Tikva Forum and has never wanted a hostage deal — only fighting Hamas in Gaza — and he said, ‘If we can’t fight, then let’s just make a deal,'” says Udi Goren, second cousin of Tal Chaimi, whose body was taken captive to Gaza on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. “That’s a huge ideological concession but it’s the same feeling we have, that there’s no leadership, no courage, no vision. We only hear what they’re not going to do, not what they are going to do.”
Goren is a hostage family member who spends each Monday at the Knesset, lobbying Knesset members and ministers to push for a hostage deal. As Chaimi’s second cousin, he is part of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and describes the other groups present in the Knesset, including the more right-wing Tikva Forum and the hawkish Gvura Forum, made up of bereaved parents of soldiers killed in the line of duty during the current war in Gaza, which have advocated for releasing the hostages via military pressure rather than diplomacy.
Speaking to The Times of Israel, Goren describes the various speakers as “a hardcore expression of democracy that represents all the voices of the nation,” and recalls the “very militant” tone voiced by some of the Gvura Forum parents, one of whom yelled at a hostage’s mother.
“We need leadership. The lack of decision-making and the status quo is the worst thing that can happen,” says Goren, a professional photographer and tour organizer who has been working with the Families Forum since his cousin was first established as missing.
Another hostage family member, Yotam Cohen, refers to comments made today by Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo that there have been no accomplishments in Gaza and that maybe it’s time for new elections.
“We’re seeing that voters and maybe the Knesset are starting to understand that the war won’t bring the hostages home,” says Cohen, whose brother, Nimrod Cohen, was taken hostage on October 7 from Nahal Oz.
Cohen and his father plan to remain in Jerusalem and join the mass rally this evening.
“If the government can’t bring the hostages home, then the nation will go out to the streets,” says Cohen. “Everyone’s just done with this crappy situation. If they don’t do their jobs as Knesset members and as public servants, then we’ll be there to get them out.”
