Family members of hostages held by Hamas on Wednesday called on rescued hostage Noa Argamani not to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to the United States next week, arguing that he was using her to legitimise himself in the wake of the October 7 disaster.
According to a Ynet report, Argamani, who was freed by Israeli forces last month along with three other hostages in a special forces operation, will join Netanyahu along with her father and other members of the hostages’ family for the prime minister’s address to Congress in Washington DC on July 24.
Maayan Sherman, the mother of IDF soldier Ron Sherman, whose body was found in December in the Gaza Strip, posted on Facebook: “Beloved Noa, he is using you. And others will pay for this with their lives. Explain this to your father. Do not fly with him as a decoration.”
Ifat Kalderon, a cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon, posted Sherman’s remarks on X, adding: “Someone explain to his beloved Noa Argamani that he is using her. She was kidnapped once by Hamas and a second time by him.”
Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik is being held hostage, made a public appeal to Argamani, saying: “I learned with great sadness that you have agreed to travel with Bibi. Traveling with Bibi means acknowledging that he is not responsible for the October 7 disaster, and he is using you to prove it.”
“As a family member of a hostage, I am glad that you managed to be released from there,” Elgarat continued. “I expect you to work for the release of the rest of the hostages or not to obstruct it. Unfortunately, in my opinion, participating in the Prime Minister’s trip harms the chances of repatriating the others.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with rescued hostage Noa Argamani, her father Yaakov and her family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (GPO)
Elgarat is part of a group traveling to Washington privately to protest Netanyahu during his stay. “If you are in his entourage, we will find ourselves in an absurd situation protesting against you, and we would not want to do that,” he said.
He noted that “the Prime Minister had invited other members of his family who declined the invitation. We would be happy and relieved if you did the same. Make your participation conditional on an agreement before the flight.”
Many of the hostage’s relatives have become increasingly critical of Mr. Netanyahu, seeing him as a major obstacle to a deal that is now widely supported by the military establishment. Mr. Netanyahu believes that more pressure must be put on Hamas to reach a deal acceptable to Israel.
Regarding Netanyahu’s trip, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement saying: “We need the prime minister to be here, available, with all his energy deployed to bring the hostages home, using all his power in the most important place for the Israeli people at this time.
Other members of the hostages’ family expected to join Netanyahu include Ditza Or, the mother of Noa Argamani’s partner Avinatan Or, who is still being held hostage, and Ayelet Samerano, whose son Jonathan’s body remains in Gaza, Ynet reported.
Ayelet Levy-Shahar, Naama Levy’s mother, declined the invitation, the report added.
An estimated 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza – not all of them alive – after 105 civilians were freed from Hamas captivity during a week-long truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that.
Seven hostages were rescued alive by the troops, and the bodies of 19 hostages were also recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the army.
The Israeli military confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
Another person has been missing since October 7 and his fate remains unknown.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.
News Source : www.timesofisrael.com
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