We’ve heard immediately from the father of an Israeli hostage launched from Gaza, who has demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be held “responsible” for utilizing Hamas “to preserve his political office.”
Yehuda Cohen – whose son, 21-year-old Nimrod Cohen, was returned to Israel on Monday – warned “this war is not over,” in an interview with Israeli Channel 12.
“I have been very critical of the government,” he advised the broadcaster on Tuesday. “We should ensure that the individuals chargeable for the occasion, and particularly the one who nonetheless openly sees himself as prime minister.
He levelled blame at Netanyahu for having “handed the south of the country over to Hamas for a sum of money,” till the October 7, 2023, assaults.
In December, 2023, a NCS investigation revealed Netanyahu authorised cash payments for aid to Gaza from Qatar – regardless of issues inside his personal authorities. After October 7, many Israelis accused him of being asleep at the wheel. Some even say he enabled it by funding the militant group.
An Israeli official advised NCS at the time that any suggestion that Netanyahu wished to keep up a “moderately weakened” Hamas was “utterly false” and that he had acted to weaken Hamas “significantly.”
“For two years he used Hamas to preserve his political office, and now, to continue in that office, he serves up Israel’s portion to the United States on a golden platter,” Yehuda mirrored. “The man is dangerous; we must keep fighting so that this dangerous man and everyone around him simply aren’t in the picture.”
For context: Netanyahu’s critics, together with some hostage households, have lengthy accused him of prolonging the struggle to distract from a number of political scandals, at the expense of recovering the hostages. His corruption trial – ongoing since 2020 – resumed Wednesday morning at the Tel Aviv District Court.