Witkoff says most Israelis back hostage deal, recognizing split between Netanyahu gov’t and public

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says more than half of Israelis back securing the release of hostages through a negotiated settlement with Hamas.

“If you look at the public opinion in Israel, it’s split more than down the middle on behalf of getting the hostages out and having a negotiated settlement to this thing,” he is quoted as having told The Atlantic for a profile piece done by the magazine.

Repeated polls have indicated that a large majority of Israelis back ending the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of the remaining 58 hostages — a trade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected, arguing that it leaves Hamas in power. But the premier also faces pressure from his far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he ends the war.

In this week’s profile, Witkoff defends Netanyahu, asserting that Hamas’s conduct throughout the war “has been so poor that Bibi in certain circumstances has felt that he has no alternative.”

He adds that any long-term solution to the conflict must involve the “total demilitarization” of Hamas. The terror group has rejected the demand to date, while offering to enter a yearslong truce that includes security guarantees, such as a halt on weapons production and tunnel digging, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last month.