Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his harsh critique of Doha ahead of an anticipated meeting by US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns with Qatari, Egyptian, and Israeli officials in Europe on the possibility of a second hostage deal.
“I do not retract a single word I said,” Netanyahu exclaimed during a Saturday day press conference with reporters in Tel Aviv.
“I will not give up even one option of placing pressure on Hamas or on anyone who can pressure it,” he stated.
Netanyahu spoke on Channel 12 last week and published a leaked tape in which he referred to Qatar, which along with Egypt, is attempting to mediate a deal to free the remaining 136 hostages held in Gaza. Qatar has since said that such comments have harmed the negotiations for a deal.
On Saturday night Netanyahu stated that “Qatar hosts the leaders of Hamas and finances the organization. It has leverage over Hamas.”
Netanyahu also pointed to the deal made earlier this month with France’s help by which medicine was supposed to be delivered by the hostages, but no proof has been given It has pledged that the drugs will reach the abductees.”
“Qatar has put itself forward as a mediator, so it should prove it by making sure that the medication reaches the hostages and by securing their release,” Netanyahu stated.
Netanyahu denies brewing crisis with Egypt
Netanyahu pushed back at reports of a brewing crisis with Egypt, which has issued a warning statement that the alliance between the two countries which has been in place since 1979, is in jeopardy.
"Relations with Egypt are ongoing and normal. Of course, each of us has our own interests, and there is the need to say certain things. They take care of their interests and I take care of ours,” he stated.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Qatari Emir Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani about a pending hostage deal. The conversation occurred following US special envoy Brett McGurk’s visit to the region to discuss a deal.
In Tel Aviv, Netanyahu rejected an accusation from a reporter that he was alienating the mediators and defended his efforts to secure the release of the hostages, amid growing criticism, particularly from the families of the captives.
At all moments, Netanyahu said, he was working to secure the release of those kidnapped in the October 7 Hamas-led attack.
Both he and his family, Netanyahu noted, had a history of acting on behalf of Israeli hostages. He explained that he was injured in 1972 when he was part of a mission to rescue the 90 passengers aboard the hijacked Sabina Flight 571. In 1976 Netanyahu’s brother Yonatan was killed rescuing hijacked Israeli from Entbee Uganda.
“So no one needs to encourage me to push for the release of the hostage, “I am working on this all the time,” he said.
But he had harsh words for the protest campaign the families of the hostages have led demanding an immediate deal, warning that their activities only played into the hands of Hamas.
"I understand that it is impossible to control one’s emotions” in this situation but it also “doesn't help” and only “hardens Hamas’ demands and delays the results that we all want.”
The families’ campaign for the release of the hostages said that if they did not work publicly for the release of their loved one, they would end up like the Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who was captured in 1986 and held for two years before he disappeared and his fate remains unknown until this day. His family was also advised to stay silent so the price would not be raised and the result was that he was forgotten, the campaign stated.
The “Prime Minister should remember that he is an elected official whose job it is to correct the mistakes” that occurred on October 7 “and not to scold those whose family members were kidnapped,” the campaign stated.
If his children were “now being held by Hamas in the Gaza tunnels at the hands of despicable murderers, Mr. Netanyahu and his wife would be with us in the compound of the kidnapped families fighting for their lives,” the campaign stated.