Netanyahu panned after ‘senior source’ claims security chiefs botched hostage talks
As PM puts confidant Dermer at head of negotiating team, moves Barnea and Bar aside, ‘senior source’ lauds him for expedited hostage releases, ‘negotiations instead of concessions’
A “senior source familiar with the details” released a statement on Wednesday claiming that the upcoming release of four dead hostages on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday is a direct result of changes made to Israel’s negotiating team.
The statement drew swift condemnation, from both unnamed sources in the security establishment and elected politicians, some of whom directly attributed the statement to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who is known to make comments to the media on condition they are attributed this way.
On Tuesday it emerged that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a longtime confidant of Netanyahu, will lead talks on phase two of the hostage release-ceasefire deal with Hamas, rather than Mossad chief David Barnea, who has led previous rounds.
Phase two, per the original three-phase deal, would see Hamas return the remaining living hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
Netanyahu pushed aside Barnea, as well as Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and the military’s hostage talks point man, Nitzan Alon. The security chiefs have long felt that a deal could and should have been reached earlier but that political considerations in Israel hampered those efforts.
According to the “senior source” statement on Wednesday, “The achievement of the agreement to release six of our living hostages in one fell swoop, alongside the return of four dead hostages tomorrow, is the result of the prime minister’s decision to change the composition of the negotiating team.”
“The new team changed the dynamic and led negotiations instead of concessions. It also stopped the practice of regular and biased briefings against the prime minister and the political echelon, which only caused Hamas to entrench its position and add demands,” the statement said.
The assertion came into response from comments other members of the Israeli negotiating team earlier this week revealing that Hamas had been the side that initiated the proposal for an expedited release of the six hostages.
A senior Israeli official and a senior Arab diplomat confirmed this account to The Times of Israel.
Security officials: ‘It’s the same agreement’
A statement carried by Ynet and attributed to “senior officials in the security establishment” blasted the statement from the “senior official,” saying: “The claim is not true. It’s a disgrace, but it’s not surprising.”
“Everything that is happening in the deal was drawn up by the original negotiating team. The team, in advance, set up the possibility to shorten the releases at the end,” the security officials said.
“There are two more releases, regardless: living hostages on Shabbat, and after that bodies. It’s the same agreement. The one who wanted to move everything up was Hamas, who understands that Netanyahu doesn’t want stage two, and wants to leverage the achievements of the first phase, quickly,” they added.
Lapid: Statement an ‘utter lie’ from PM’s office
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also attacked the “cowardly statement and complete and utter lie” from the “senior official,” saying in a statement, “The announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office raises concerns about the stability of his judgment.”
“This is a cowardly statement and also a complete and utter lie. Netanyahu continues to blame others for his failures, and continues to abuse the families of the hostages for political purposes,” Lapid said.
“Everyone who works for [Netanyahu] should know that sooner or later they will be publicly sacrificed for half a headline,” he charged.
“This is a matter of conscience and he’s looking for credit. He should stop hiding behind anonymous briefings and make sure to bring all the hostages home,” the opposition leader added.
Gantz: PM ‘breaking us apart from within’
National Unity Leader Benny Gantz wrote on X: “Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is an upright security man, ethical and strong, who has contributed much to the return of the hostages.
“He bears responsibility both for the disaster on October 7, as well as for the fighting and activities that came after, and I support him and back him, as well as all the heads of the security services who have taken part in the negotiations for the return of our hostages.
“When the prime minister attacks the heads of the security establishment time and time again, he is tearing us apart from the inside, and weakening us, amid turbulent days that require us to be as strong and united as possible in the face of our enemies,” Gantz said.
Hostage families forum: ‘Stop this behavior immediately!’
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also issued a statement on Wednesday amid the fracas, declaring, “While officials are issuing statements against other officials, we, the families of the hostages, are losing our minds with worry for our loved ones.
“The fate of the hostages, the living and the fallen, is on the table, and those who are supposed to be turning the world upside down to secure it are having confrontations with each other.
“Stop this behavior immediately! We saw the exact same pictures you did. We heard the exact same testimonies from returnees that you did,” the forum said.
The families demanded that by the time troops withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border on Day 50 of the agreement, “it will be clear that by the Holiday of Freedom [i.e., Passover, on April 12] all the hostages will be released from Hamas hell in Gaza.”
Seventy of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014.
Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday that all six remaining living hostages slated to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal will be freed Saturday, among them the two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
