UTJ head says Hamas, not Netanyahu, blocking hostage deal, offers prayers
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism, defends the government’s handling of the hostage issue, denying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“Make no mistake, there is no deal here that we oppose. There is no deal at all because Hamas opposes it,” the senior Haredi politician states.
“The hostages call out to us: Yell and shake the heavens,” he continues. “Instead of blocking roads and strikes, we are doing what we can to stir the heavens and the earth through prayer and laments, so that all the hostages remaining in Gaza will be quickly returned to their families.”
