The Prime Minister’s Office, this evening (Wednesday, 18 September 2024) [translated from Hebrew]:

The fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acceded to every American proposal for releasing the hostages despite the ultimatum from elements in the coalition completely refutes the claim that he has torpedoed any deal whatsoever due to political considerations.

On April 27th, the Prime Minister conveyed to the mediator a framework for releasing the hostages, which Secretary of State Blinken defined as being a very generous proposal. On May 31st, the Prime Minister agreed to the US proposal, and on August 16th, he agreed to the American “final bridging proposal.”

On June 12th, Secretary of State Blinken said that Israel had agreed to the proposal while Hamas had not. On August 28th, the Deputy Director of the CIA said that Israel was showing a seriousness in the negotiations that the leader of Hamas would have to respond to. On September 9th, US Special Envoy to the Middle East McGurk said that there was no hostage release deal only because of Hamas’s refusal. On September 9th, even Benny Gantz admitted that, “Hamas has not accepted the framework for months and the world is expected to back Israel.”

The false claims in the media against Prime Minister Netanyahu echo the propaganda of the Hamas terrorist organization and invert reality. Prime Minister Netanyahu has already brought about the release of 154 hostages, 117 of whom are alive, and will continue to utilize all means to release the hostages.

Whoever wants to assist in the effort to release our hostages needs to pressure the murderer Sinwar and not the Prime Minister of Israel.