‘Simply disconnected’: Gantz slams Netanyahu for comparing detained aides to hostages

Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, calling for a deal to free the hostages near the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 31, 2025.(Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, calling for a deal to free the hostages near the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 31, 2025.(Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that two of his senior aides being held by police in the Qatargate scandal “are being held hostage.”

“While you free up your time for interrogations, 59 hostages are counting the seconds,” Gantz posts on X.

In a video statement, Netanyahu said that when police told him that he needed to give testimony in the case against his aides, he immediately cleared time for it.

“Our hostages, who were kidnapped on your watch — they are not those who worked with Qatar during the war and were detained for one day for interrogation, but people who have been languishing with the enemy in the tunnels for 542 days,” Gantz writes.

“Prime Minister — You are simply disconnected. This people deserve a leader who will clear his entire schedule, call the members of the negotiating team, and give them one task: a deal to return all the kidnapped,” he adds — calling for a comprehensive deal which would bring all of the hostages home.

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