PM’s rep threatened hostage’s family over public criticism

Lior Lotan, the chief negotiator for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the bodies of two fallen soldiers held by Hamas, threatened the family of an Israeli man captive in Gaza that speaking out would affect efforts to secure his return.

Lotan told the family of 28-year-old Avraham Mengistu on Wednesday that if any attempt was made to connect the issue with recent tensions between the Ethiopian community and the government, it would “cause [Mengistu] to stay in Gaza for another year.”

Lotan gave the family an ultimatum. “You have two options: you can point the finger at Hamas,” Lotan said, “or you can point that finger at Jerusalem and say, ‘You’re not okay. You let him cross the border [into Gaza]. You never responded to our letters.'”

“Choose what you want, but be responsible for the outcome,” he warned.

The conversation, held in a government office in the family’s hometown of Ashkelon, was recorded and broadcast by Channel 10 news Thursday evening.

When a family member tried to take notes during the meeting, Lotan is heard in the recording telling them, “I don’t like this. My meetings are not documented.”

And when Mengistu’s brother, Yalo, tried to intervene and smooth things over, Lotan snapped at him. “Don’t interrupt me, please. I am older than you. Let me finish and everything will be fine here,” he said.

In a telephone conversation with the family during the meeting, Netanyahu also warned them that publicizing information about Mengistu would “make it easier for Hamas to raise the price.”

During the call, Mengistu’s father asked Netanyahu why his letters to the Prime Minister’s Office had been ignored. This question drew criticism from Lotan after the call had ended.

When a father asks a question like that, Lotan told the family, “that makes me weaker with the prime minister.”

Later in the conversation, a member of the family asked what exactly is being done to return Avraham. Lotan refused to answer, because what they had “done with the prime minister was so egregious.”

Yesh Atid MK Haim Yellin, who hails from a community bordering the Gaza Strip, on Thursday night demanded that Netanyahu dismiss Lotan.

“Fire Lotan this very evening and apologize to the family,” Yellin urged Netanyahu in a letter. “Be a leader, lead, and show the Israeli nation that their prime minister knows how to take responsibility.”

He said that Lotan’s statements were redolent of “profound racism and a sense of elitism.”

Netanyahu told the press on Thursday that “no effort is being spared” to return Mengistu and another Israeli being held by Hamas. The second hostage is an unnamed member of the Bedouin community in the Negev.

“We are working to secure the release of both Israelis who crossed the border fence into Gaza. We see Hamas as responsible for their well-being,” Netanyahu said in his first public remarks on the issue.

A gag order on the two hostages had been lifted earlier in the day, following a court petition by two Israeli media outlets.

The captivity of the two men is viewed by Israel as a humanitarian issue unrelated to the negotiations over the bodies of the two soldiers, which have been held by the terrorist group since last summer’s fighting, an official told Walla news.

Hamas has denied holding Mengistu hostage, but Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials made it clear Thursday that they hold the group ultimately responsible for the pair’s safety.

The government will not include the two hostages in any agreement for the return of the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, senior Israeli officials said Thursday night.

Hamas has previously used captives as leverage to urge Israel to release Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails. In 2011, Israel freed 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, in four waves, in return for the return of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, abducted and taken to Gaza in 2006.

Little is known of the whereabouts of Mengistu, who crossed the Gaza security fence in September of last year. Family members have described Mengistu as “unwell” and urged Hamas to consider his condition and return him to Israel immediately.

A senior Palestinian official based in the Gaza Strip denied reports that Hamas was holding Mengistu, and said he was released soon after the group’s interrogators determined that he was not a soldier. According to the official, Mengistu left the coastal strip via a tunnel to Sinai, in an attempt, they said, to reach Ethiopia.

The second hostage, from the Bedouin village of Hura, reportedly entered Gaza via the Erez Crossing in April. According to an Israeli official, the man has mild psychological issues and has a history of entering Jordan, Egypt and Gaza.

The official said that since Hamas refuses to admit that it is holding the men, no negotiations are currently taking place.