‘Mr. Abandonment’: Book by families, public figures accuses PM of forsaking hostages

Early edition with 48 chapters by relatives, freed hostage, ex-MKs, former security officials and more holds Netanyahu responsible for ‘greatest disaster’ in country’s history

The front cover of the book, 'Mr Abandonment: The Legacy of the Man Who Forsook the Hostages,' a text accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failures during the Israel-Hamas war. (Forum for Life)
The front cover of the book, 'Mr Abandonment: The Legacy of the Man Who Forsook the Hostages,' a text accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failures during the Israel-Hamas war. (Forum for Life)

An early edition of a book developed by a group of hostages’ relatives accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to make crucial policy decisions during the ongoing war against Hamas to reach a deal to free hostages held in Gaza.

“Mr. Abandonment: The Legacy of the Man Who Forsook the Hostages” (Hebrew), was released in Hebrew on Thursday, containing short entries by 48 contributors assailing Netanyahu as a disastrous leader who has brought calamity upon the nation. The title is a play on a moniker of Netanyahu’s that served as his political ticket through many elections — that of “Mr. Security.”

Writers include several relatives of hostages, former Knesset lawmakers, former security officials, cultural figures, doctors and mental health professionals as well as Nili Margalit, a hostage freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November who describes the suffering she endured while being held inside a tunnel in Gaza. The group behind the book is currently running a crowdfunding campaign to publish the text.

The 100-page draft begins with an address to “Mr. Abandonment, Benjamin Netanyahu” by hostage families who cast the prime minister as “the man who led our country to the greatest disaster in its history, adding insult to injury and insisting on neglecting the citizens of the country hour by hour.”

In her chapter titled, “It Cannot Be That a Prime Minister Leaves People to Die,” Margalit describes the heat inside the tunnels as “a million times” hotter than the Israeli summer.

“It is hot, humid, disgusting and foul-smelling and it’s very difficult to breathe,” she says. “You know the feeling of really wanting water, but there isn’t any? And then you think of what you’ll drink when you get home, or at what cafe or shop you can stop and buy something.

“I want to explain to you the thirst in the tunnels. There is no cold water there, and no clean water. There are a few sips a day of salt water.”

Nili Margalit speaks to Channel 12’s Uvda on January 4, 2024. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

“How can I tell my son that the prime minister I voted for decided to abandon him,” writes Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage, and who has led demands for a deal to free the captives.

“During the months of war, every time a hostage deal was discussed, anonymous officials’ comments were published against a deal,” she says, implying these came from Netanyahu. “When he spoke, the prime minister made sure to provoke Hamas and threaten its complete elimination. These actions pierced my heart as Matan’s mother and brought into sharp focus the ongoing policy of neglect.”

In former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo’s chapter, entitled “Everything Was Clear,” he accuses Netanyahu of not making the return of hostages the most important goal of the war.

“It was clear from the start of the ground offensive that many would die and be murdered, and the number of fallen soldiers would grow and grow,” Pardo writes, adding that it was obvious that a military operation would not be able to bring back even “a significant minority” of the hostages.

“The Israeli government abandoned its citizens twice — once on October 7, and again when it did not do what was necessary to bring them back,” he says.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, is suspended from a bridge in a cage above protesters outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 7, 2024 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The publishers of the book, calling themselves The Forum for Life, said in a statement to Walla that the edition is not a final one but is a draft of a book that will contain over 150 entries when it is complete.

“We believe that when it is published, the full picture of Mr. Abandonment and his legacy will be revealed. At this point, the families are keeping a final chapter to be updated, in the hope that Netanyahu will act to release the abductees immediately and not continue the tradition of sabotage and abandonment,” the statement read.

Many families of hostages and victims of the October 7 massacre have accused Netanyahu and his government of abandoning their relatives and Gaza border communities when Hamas-led terrorists launched a devastating onslaught on his watch, in which 1,200 people were murdered and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.

It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.

Talks for a ceasefire and hostage deal in the nearly 10-month war are ongoing. Though negotiators have expressed optimism recently regarding the prospects of a deal, Netanyahu has appeared to harden his stance as he calls for more and more pressure on Hamas before reaching an agreement.

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