Netanyahu denies preventing Gaza truce, says polls supporting hostage deal are ‘manipulated’

Amid claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s four-day visit to Washington last week failed to produce a ceasefire announcement in Gaza due to his alleged desire to prolong the conflict, the premier defends the trip as “very successful” and accuses Hebrew media outlets of misrepresenting both his intentions and public opinion on a deal.

“It was a very successful visit, following a major victory in Iran… We have a lot of tasks to do, and I’m determined to complete them,” Netanyahu says in a video update posted to his X account.

Responding to claims that he and his government are obstructing a deal, Netanyahu charges that Hebrew-language media “are always echoing Hamas propaganda, and they’re always wrong.”

“We accepted the deal, the [US Special Envoy Steve] Witkoff framework, and afterward the modified version that the mediators suggested — we accepted it, Hamas refused it,” he says, referring to the latest proposals being discussed in Doha.

“What does Hamas want? It wants to stay in Gaza. It wants us to leave, so it can rearm, so it can attack us again and again. I won’t accept that,” he continues, adding that “I will do everything to return our hostages. I’m meeting with the families, I know the hardship they’re going through, their suffering. I’m determined to bring the hostages home.”

Asked about polls showing that a majority of Israelis support a deal, Netanyahu argues that the wording of the questions fails to reflect the true cost.

“I’m also in favor of a deal — but they don’t say to you [in the questionnaire] the other side of things. That is, these are manipulated polls, they’re always misleading the public. They’re not asking: Do you want a deal for the release of hostages, that leaves Hamas in its place? So it can repeat its offenses of rape, murder, kidnappings, and invasions? No. Otherwise, the results would be the complete opposite.”

Netanyahu reiterates that “we must insist on releasing the hostages, and insist on the other goal of the war in Gaza: the destruction of Hamas, and guaranteeing that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel. That’s what I’m doing — I’m not giving up on any of these goals.”

In response to Netanyahu’s remarks, Channel 12 — whose Friday poll showed 74% of Israelis, including 60% of Netanyahu coalition voters, supporting a deal — clarified that the question asked respondents whether they supported releasing all the hostages at once “in exchange for an end to the Gaza war.”