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Talya Rechavi

‘Operation Hush’: Silencing the families of the hostages

Just weeks after October 7th, members of Netanyahu’s coalition began a venomous attack against families of the hostages. Here’s how and why
Families of the hostages at a Knesset committee meeting. (Noam Moskowitz/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
Families of the hostages at a Knesset committee meeting. (Noam Moskowitz/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

On a hot and humid Israeli September evening, police knocked on doors of the homes of three women. There, in front of their families, they were hauled, handcuffed and chained, to the police station, where they were questioned for eight hours. The three women are activists in the drive to “seal a deal” with Hamas for the return of the Israeli hostages, in exchange for Hamas prisoners. According to the police, they had committed “forced entry” into a synagogue, placing leaflets with photos of hostages on the seats. They did so in expectation of Yuli Edelstein, of Netanyahu’s Likud party, who arrived later at that synagogue for the  Friday night prayer service. Yuli Edelstein had himself experienced captivity, when, as a Soviet-era “refusenik,” he was sent to a hard-labor camp, until he was freed in the 1980s. Now, the Police Investigations Department (PID) of the Attorney General’s Office is investigating the conduct of the officers who arrested the women.

The “leafleting women” episode stands in stark contrast to the conduct of the police a few weeks earlier, when members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliamentary body) from the Jewish Power party broke into a military camp, accompanied by supporters. This military camp serves as an ad hoc prison for some of the Hamas terrorists captured. Several soldiers in the camp were suspected of sexually abusing a terrorist. The televised break-in was intended to prevent the IDF from arresting these soldiers. The Hamas terrorists held in that camp certainly were not angelic in their behavior; still, the law is the law. Or is it?

The police who arrested the three women are under the authority of the Ministry of National Security, of which Itamar Ben Gvir is the minister. He is also head of the Jewish Power party, whose members and supporters broke into the military camp. One is left to wonder: why on earth would the Israel Police arrest those fighting for the release of the hostages? What danger do they pose, and to whom? Exactly now, as all eyes are on Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, it is crucial that we inspect this question, and for that end, we must go back in time to November 2023.

Only several weeks following the October 7th Hamas massacre, members of Netanyahu’s coalition began a coordinated and premeditated vicious attack on those families of Israeli hostages who were demanding a deal with Hamas to release their loved ones. The politicians’ tactics have included: 1) accusing families of hostages that their heroic efforts are simply part of the campaign to overthrow Netanyahu, 2) portraying those families as betraying Israel (no less), and 3) good-ole’ over-policing. Here are a few examples.

It began in November of 2023. The aforementioned Jewish Power party, the name of which leaves no room for misunderstanding, presented a bill to promote the death penalty for terrorists (Palestinian terrorists, that is). Many families of the hostages held in Gaza opposed the bill, claiming the obvious: that Hamas would retaliate by executing the hostages. A Knesset committee met to discuss the bill. Present were the committee’s Knesset members and representative of families of the hostages who were guests of the televised meeting. In his opening statement, the chair of the committee — surprise, surprise, himself a member of the Jewish Power party — concluded the discussion before it even began. In his opening statement, he claimed that anyone opposing the “death for terrorists” bill was “someone attempting to represent Hamas.”

Gil Dickman, guest to the committee meeting, and cousin of the then living Carmel Gat, who had been kidnapped to Gaza, reacted: “Now is not the time to talk about the guillotine and the death penalty, not when the lives of our loved ones are at stake.” He added: “Please don’t tell us we represent the people who murdered our relatives.” Carmel Gat managed to survive 11 months in captivity in an underground tunnel, with no possibility of standing erect, with very scarce nourishment, and hardly any means of hygiene. Who knows what other forms of torture she endured during the 11 months? On August 31st, after a Hamas scout warned their captors that an IDF force was approaching, she and five other hostages held in the tunnel with her were executed.

In the following months, attacks on families of the hostages continued in the once dignified Knesset that has become, in recent years, Israel’s Hall of Shame. For instance, in March 2024, during a meeting of the House Committee, family members of hostages criticized the Knesset’s decision to go ahead with the spring break while their loved ones were still in captivity. MK Pindrus (“United Torah Judaism” party) reacted to the grievances of the families, with “Yalla, yalla” (Arabic for “get lost”). During a radio interview, MK Pindrus justified his behavior, accusing the families of the hostages: “They attacked me. It’s good for [their] campaign, for the news headlines.”

If that were not enough, in May, the same MK Pindrus accused Ayala Buchshtav, mother of a hostage held in Gaza, of “trying to play politics” and “oust Bibi.” Why? Because she had attempted to persuade the MKs that a deal with Hamas was the only reasonable option, one that would allow a maximum number of hostages to return, while minimizing chances that the IDF would unintentionally kill the hostages during a military action to release them. Her son, Yagev Buchshtav, was kidnapped to Gaza on October 7th. Yagev was held hostage in Gaza with his wife, Rimon. Rimon was released on November 28th, as part of the only deal with Hamas, whereas Yagev was kept in captivity. Not long after this committee meeting – in July – Ms. Buchshtav was informed that her son, Yagev, had died in Gaza. The IDF recovered his body from Gaza on August 19th.

Still in May, an even more bizarre incident occurred, as recorded in the transcript of another Knesset committee meeting. Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, captive in Gaza, is one of the more vocal and militant leaders of the protests demanding a deal to release the hostages. During the meeting, she claimed that MK Gotliv, of Netanyahu’s “Likud” party, had called her a “nuchba” on social media (“nuchba” is the Hamas terrorist unit that spearheaded the October 7th attack). MK Gotliv, a lawyer by profession, immediately denied mentioning Ms. Zangauker’s name. Yet, she did not deny using “nuchba” with regard to the protesters.

And in July, Mr. Elgarat, a terribly upset brother of hostage Itsik Elgarat, made a scene during a meeting of the committee on the constitution. The chair of the committee (from Religious Zionism) asked Knesset guards to escort Mr. Elgarat out of the room. The following day, according to Daphna Liel, Channel 12 reporter to the Knesset, Mr. Elgarat was denied entry to the Knesset until he pledged – in writing – not to continue with acts of “civil disobedience” in the Knesset. This took place only several days after IDF intelligence officers had informed Mr. Elgarat that his brother had died in captivity in Gaza.

As gut-wrenching as they are, the ongoing attacks on families of the hostages, only a few of which are described here, have had a highly successful cumulative effect. Just before Rosh Hashanah, Likud MKs and local activists gathered at one of the party’s offices, in one of Israel’s main towns. They came to raise a toast for a happy upcoming new year. Several of the hostages’ families, who were demanding a deal be sealed, held a small protest outside, asking the MKs to remember that there were still hostages held in Gaza. The Likud activists gathered around the families of the hostages, threw eggs at them, and repeated the slogans they have been hearing for the last year from their leaders. One activist shouted to the families: “You are the cancer of the state!” Another told them to get out of their town, saying it was Netanyahu’s and Ben Gvir’s turf.

After reading these cases, I ask you to consider the following questions:

  • Why are members of Netanyahu’s coalition so virulently trying to silence families of the hostages? Are they genuinely concerned about the future of Israel, or are they concerned about the political price they will pay if an agreement with Hamas is reached?

All Israelis, of all political affiliations, would be exhilarated to see the return of the hostages to Israel (only half of whom are still alive, according to the latest intelligence reports). Yet, Netanyahu’s coalition seems to want the hostages released only by military action. For them, scenes of submissive hostages escorted by Hamas terrorists to the Red Cross ambulances would add to the humiliating sight of thousands of jubilant well-fed terrorists making the “V”  sign from behind windows of buses hauling them away from the Israeli prisons. For Netanyahu and his coalition, that would mark total defeat.

  • What does the Philadelphi Corridor have to do with all of this, and when did it become the sine qua non?

The Philadelphi Corridor ­– the route that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt ­– was first mentioned at the end of April. At that point, after seven months of fighting, Israel was finally approaching Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, bordering Egypt. In May, the IDF began to take over the Philadelphi Corridor. Several weeks later, with the corridor already in Israel’s hands, negotiating teams from Israel, the US, and the Arab allies were working hard on a plan to replace Israeli control there with an alternative international force. By the end of July, hopes were high that an agreement with Hamas was just around the corner. And then Netanyahu reneged.

It is no secret that Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, minister of finance and head of the Religious Zionism party, have a chokehold on Netanyahu. Time and time again, Netanyahu, who vowed “total victory” over Hamas, bowed down to their demands. And they insist Israel remain in control of the Philadelphi Corridor.

  • What is the importance of the Philadelphi Corridor to the Jewish Power and the Religious Zionism parties?

Voters of both parties share the view that Jews have the right ­– in fact, the duty ­– to settle any piece of the Promised Land. Both share the vision of a new “Gush Katif,” a return of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip that were dismantled in 2005, following Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Safeguarding new Jewish settlements surrounded by an ever more hostile population would require a 24/7 presence of the IDF. It would be a de facto reoccupation, if not annexation, of Gaza. For the Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties, that is not such a bad idea. The Philadelphi Corridor would then become, once again, Egypt’s border with greater Israel. Thus, the prophecy of “attaching tendons” and “making flesh come upon” the bones scattered along the sand of Gaza would come true. Unfortunately, many of those dry bones would be the last remains of the Israeli hostages and the fallen soldiers.

  • What do the pagers exploding in Syria and Lebanon and all the jazz that followed have to do with the hostages?

There is almost full consensus among Israelis that it was essential to act against Hezbollah, who had been, from the beginning of the war in Gaza, pounding cities, villages, and kibbutzim, leaving the north of Israel empty of its inhabitants. In fact, many Israelis are wondering why it took so long. Yet, as the stage-lighting swiftly turned to the perfectly timed mass explosion of pagers, marking the beginning of the drama unfolding in Lebanon and Syria, the lights at the end of the Gazan tunnels began to fade out.

For a whole year, the Israeli hostages, the scapegoats left to their own devices in Gaza, have atoned for the arrogance of those responsible for the worst disaster to hit Israel. Isn’t that enough?

About the Author
Talya B. Rechavi holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology and a master's degree in Psychology of Cognition and Perception. She lives in Tel Aviv.
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