In light of renewed public focus on efforts to secure a hostage release deal following the ceasefire with Iran, opposition leaders voiced strong positions on Monday, signaling readiness to support dramatic moves—even if it means halting the war in Gaza.
Chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu MK Avigdor Lieberman opened his party’s weekly meeting with pointed remarks on the stalled hostage negotiations. He called for a full prisoner exchange deal, even if it requires the IDF to withdraw from Gaza and end its military campaign against Hamas.
“I get daily calls from soldiers in Gaza who are guarding humanitarian convoys. It’s chaos, it’s complete anarchy,” Lieberman said. “Worse still, the rules of engagement allow only deterrent fire. They feel their lives are in danger. The government is sending reservists to demolish buildings with their bare hands—no bulldozers, no equipment. They say there’s no budget for modern APCs, yet hundreds of millions are being spent on humanitarian aid paid for by Israeli taxpayers.”
He continued, drawing a historical comparison: “Could anyone imagine the Allies in World War II sending medicine, water, fuel, and food to the Nazis? Only in Israel does such insanity happen, while our hostages rot in Hamas captivity. This week, David Cunio’s daughters will turn five. He last saw them when they were three. Does that sound reasonable to anyone? If military pressure has exhausted its usefulness—what are we still doing there? I call on the government: make a deal. Bring all the hostages home.”
Lieberman concluded with a call for a new strategy. “After that, we need a Lebanon-style deterrence model. Since the ceasefire, we’ve eliminated 200 Hezbollah operatives. We’ll hunt down every terrorist involved in the October 7th massacre—until their last day.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Unity party, MK Benny Gantz, also addressed the issue during his party’s meeting. He emphasized that securing the release of hostages remains a national priority, pledging that his faction would back the government in any bold steps taken to secure their freedom.
“We stated early on that the intensified phase of the campaign would last three months, followed by at least a year—possibly more—of continued fighting to dismantle Hamas’s military infrastructure,” said Gantz. “That timeline has long passed. From the beginning, I said the process of reshaping Gaza will take a decade. It’s time to be honest with the public and begin shaping that reality, rather than letting others decide it for us.”
Commenting on reports of a potential 60-day ceasefire tied to a partial hostage deal, Gantz warned: “This is a strategic error. Our goal must be to bring all hostages back as soon as possible—not to stretch this out with another phased deal that leaves people behind as bargaining chips. Now is the time to close the wound, not preserve the coalition.”
He concluded, “Even if the price is a long-term ceasefire, it’s clear—to the world and to us—that we cannot coexist with a terror group arming itself on our border. I don’t believe Hamas will become a peace movement. This deal must be used to change the regime in Gaza and demilitarize it. We cannot fall for Hamas’s stall tactics.”
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid echoed these sentiments, also calling for an end to the war in Gaza. “IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told the cabinet yesterday that the political leadership must decide what the next objective is,” Lapid said. “Every day, more soldiers are being killed. This month alone, we’ve had 20 fatalities—the highest monthly toll in the past year.”
{Matzav.com}