THEY DIDN’T BRING THEM HOME. THEY BROUGHT THEM BACK IN COFFINS.

There are lines that even politics should never cross.

But Benjamin Netanyahu seems determined to prove that when political survival is at stake, even the suffering of hostage families can become election propaganda.

“We brought everyone home.”

That is the slogan Netanyahu wants to present as one of his greatest achievements.

Really?

Did he also bring home Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino?

They were kidnapped alive on October 7, 2023. They survived for months under the inhumane conditions of Hamas captivity. Their families fought desperately for their release.

But they did not walk home. They never got to embrace their loved ones or rebuild their lives.

They came back in coffins.

Twenty-eight relatives representing seventeen families of hostages murdered or killed in captivity have demanded that Netanyahu and Likud withdraw this election slogan.

Nira Sarusi, mother of Almog Sarusi, asked a question that should shame those responsible for this campaign:

“You returned them dead. Is that what you are boasting about?”

THE RESPONSIBILITY NETANYAHU CANNOT ESCAPE

On October 7, 2023, Israel suffered a national catastrophe. Entire communities were attacked, families were murdered, and hundreds of people were taken hostage while the state failed in its most fundamental duty: protecting its citizens.

Benjamin Netanyahu was the prime minister.

He was not an observer. He was the head of the government.

Yet while claiming credit for the hostages’ return, he continues to resist fully accepting political responsibility for the catastrophe that allowed them to be abducted.

You cannot claim credit for successes while refusing responsibility for failures.

Hamas bears responsibility for the kidnappings and murders. But its crimes do not absolve the Israeli government of accountability for its own decisions.

Could earlier agreements have saved more lives? Were negotiations delayed for political reasons? Was the survival of the governing coalition placed ahead of the hostages’ release?

These questions demand answers, not slogans.

The families are calling for an independent state commission of inquiry. If Netanyahu truly believes his government acted properly, he should be the first to demand that the entire truth be brought to light.

THE DEAD ARE NOT ELECTION TROPHIES

Every hostage who returned alive represents an extraordinary human victory. Every body recovered deserves a dignified burial in Israel.

But recovering a body is not the same as saving a life.

And presenting both as a political victory is an insult to the suffering of families who waited for months for their loved ones to return.

There is something profoundly outrageous about a prime minister seeking more votes by celebrating the return of people who were abducted alive and brought back dead.

The families are not asking for propaganda. They are demanding respect, truth, and accountability.

Mr. Netanyahu: the dead cannot challenge your slogans. Their families can.

And today, they are doing exactly that.

Listen to them.

Their children, husbands, and fathers are not statistics. They are not electoral achievements. And they do not belong to any political party.

They deserved to come home alive.

And no slogan will ever change the fact that so many came home in coffins.