Netanyahu accuses opposition of ‘cynical campaign on the backs of hostages’ families’

Speaking at the Knesset plenum, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is preparing “for the next stages” of the seven-front war.

“We won’t stop until we achieve all the goals of victory,” he promises, as a number of opposition lawmakers yell out and are expelled by Speaker Amir Ohana.

Protesters also hold up photos of hostages and demonstrate from the visitors’ gallery.

He says that after the first hostage release in November 2023 — during which he says he managed to get dozens more hostages released than Hamas was initially willing to release — the terror group was the one that consistently refused to agree to another deal. Senior Biden administration officials have said as much publicly, he reminds the Knesset, while blasting the opposition, members of the negotiating team, and the media for a “fictitious and cynical campaign… on the backs of the hostages’ families,” that argues that the government is the one torpedoing a deal.

“What do you think goes through the minds of the hostage families when they hear you?” he asks. “You are simply shattering their souls.”