During a rally held at the end of the fourth day of the hostages' families' march to Jerusalem, the families' representatives demanded that the cabinet members meet with them on Saturday in order to explain the position of the Israeli government regarding a possible deal.
At the rally, various representatives of the families called out the government for their failure to clearly communicate with the families.
Naor Paktzi, representative of the families of the hostages from Kibbutz Be'eri: "How do you accept Shabbat without knowing where our hostages are? We have a message for the war cabinet - you cannot make a decision without sitting with us and looking us in the eye. Look us in the eyes!"
Ivy Mozes, chairman of the Organization for Victims of Hostilities in Israel. His wife (who was pregnant) and son were burned to death by a terrorist in 1987: "I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and the government of Israel if it is necessary to release the criminal who murdered my wife Ofra who was pregnant and my son - I say do it and release them home today. I will no longer be able to hug my wife Ofra, but the families of the hostages can. It's time to get them back now!"
Look us in the eyes!
Kamelia Hoter Yishai, grandmother of Gali Tarshansky (13) who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Be'eri: "Personally, it is difficult for me to relate to this group called hostages because everyone has a name - Gali, Yossi... Everyone has a family, everyone has dreams. Since that bitter day, we have not heard from the government or the ministers in charge of anything about what is happening with Gali in Gaza beyond the fact that she was kidnapped."
She continued "I am asking Bibi Netanyahu to come to us tomorrow, look us in the eyes, and tell us something, anything so that we will not be treated as monkeys. I started this march out of a national mission to get all the answers we deserve. I want to thank all the wonderful citizens of this country and say thank you, you give us the strength to continue, we need you with all your strength tomorrow in Jerusalem, help us get answers."
Yuval Haran, whose seven family members were kidnapped: "How can you put a price on a 3-year-old girl? I have a question for the prime minister and cabinet ministers - do you have anything better to do than meet us? I want to say thank you to everyone who is joining us. We started with a few hundred, today we are tens of thousands, and tomorrow we will be many more. Come be our support, the whole world will hear our cry. We don't have the privilege to wait any longer."
Udi Goren, cousin of Tal Chaimi who was kidnapped from his home in Nir Yitzhak to members of the War Cabinet: "You are carving the fate of the nation now - how is it possible that you are not here now? We were betrayed once and lost faith in the idea. You have a chance to make amends, don't abandon us again. This war has one and only image of victory - 238 hostages standing safe and sound in the Knesset square. There is no victory until the last abductee."