Hostage Families Forum accuses government of going against will of the people in renewing broad Gaza campaign

After the security cabinet approved the expansion of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) activity in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum accused the government of ignoring the wishes of the Israeli population and choosing territory over the hostages. 

“The plan approved by the cabinet deserves the name 'Smotrich-Netanyahu Plan' for giving up on the hostages and abandoning national and security resilience,” the Forum said. “The government admits this morning that it is choosing territories over hostages, and this is against the will of over 70 percent of the people. This choice will be remembered as a cry for generations.” 

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, and a prominent protest leader over the past year, complained about the decision to broaden the fighting in Gaza at a protest on Saturday night, saying, “Netanyahu is calling up reservists to fight again in Gaza, which will only bring about the death of hostages. This is unbelievable and unforgivable.” 

“He is sending soldiers into an unnecessary war, a war he refuses to end,” Zangauker claimed. 

On Monday, she also spoke at a discussion at the National Security Committee, asking for the government to say if it values land more than the hostages. 

Zangauker said she had hoped to speak to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. 

“I want to ask, do you agree with the decision that was made by the Cabinet?” Zangauker stated. "Yesterday it was decided to expand the fighting in Gaza, which means that the terrorists holding Matan my son were instructed to shoot him in the head as soon as they heard the IDF forces approaching. I want to know if the price of the lives of Matan and 58 other hostages is worth the price of the occupation of the Gaza Strip? As a mother, I can't accept it, the people of Israel for the most part can't accept it.” 

Zangauker also sparred with MK Simcha Rothman, one of the leaders in the push for the Judicial Reform laws. 

“Tens of thousands of people have received Order 8 [technical name for the reserve call-up notice],” Zanguaker stated. “They come with a brotherhood of fighting, with a desire not to abandon their fighters in enemy territory, but what about morality? What about the hostages?” 

After Rothman responded, 'We have to be careful here with the call for refusal.' Zangauker shouted, 'I'm not calling for refusal! Don't attribute to me things I didn't say!'"

She then shared that her daughter serves despite the ongoing situation. 

“My daughter is serving even though Matan is in captivity, you won't put words in my mouth!”  

On Sunday evening, Channel 13 news reported that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir recently warned government ministers that renewing and expanding the military operations in the Gaza Strip could endanger the hostages. 

“In a plan for a full-scale maneuver, we won’t necessarily reach the hostages,” Zamir was quoted as saying to the leaders. “Keep in mind that we could lose them.” 

Zamir also warned the ministers that the two goals of defeating Hamas and returning the hostages “are problematic in relation to each other.” 

Following the report, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, “The chief of staff’s warning should keep every Israeli awake at night. An overwhelming majority of the nation is united around the understanding that an Israeli victory cannot be achieved without bringing the hostages home. Losing the hostages would mean an Israeli defeat. National security and social stability depend on the return of all the hostages – every last one.” 

Opposition politicians also spoke out against the decision to renew fighting. 

Chairman of the recently formed Democrats party Maj. Gen. (res.) Yair Golan, said, “The Cabinet decided tonight to expand the military operation inside the Gaza Strip – not to preserve Israel's security, but to save Netanyahu and the extremist government. This is no longer a temporary operation, but a move that legitimizes a permanent stay in the field, as part of the realization of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich's fantasies.” 

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the right-wing opposition party Israel Beitenu, called out the government for hypocrisy by sending out thousands of call-up orders to reservists who have served multiple tours of duty, while also trying to pass a law to exempt tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from military service. 

“Sending 60,000 conscription orders to reservists and promoting the Evasion Law [the Haredi Draft Law] is a severe blow to both security and national resilience,” Lieberman said. “The Cabinet's decision yesterday to expand the war is also a political decision, a purely coalition decision that also harms national security. This government is willing to pay any price for the government, even at the cost of the lives of the hostages or the lives of the soldiers.”