Freed hostage Eli Sharabi brands Netanyahu’s 7 October joke ‘a disgrace’
Former hostage says prime minister’s remarks were “irresponsible” as opposition renews calls for an inquiry into 7 October
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi has condemned Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister joked that he had “lost a little weight” when asked how he had changed since the Hamas-led atrocities of 7 October 2023.
The exchange came during an interview on Israel’s Channel 14 on Tuesday. Asked what had changed for him personally since the attacks, Netanyahu smiled and replied: “I’ve lost a little weight.”
He then went on to discuss what he said were the lessons of the war, arguing that future buffer zones should be inside enemy territory rather than Israel, while also addressing issues including Iran, Turkey and the cost of living.
But the opening remark quickly drew criticism from former hostage Sharabi and opposition politicians.
Sharabi, who spent 491 days in Hamas captivity after being abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri, responded during an interview with Army Radio, according to The Jerusalem Post: “I lost a little more weight than the prime minister did, in 491 days.”
Asked how he felt on hearing Netanyahu’s answer, he said: “It is simply terrible. Terrible. It is irresponsible.
“This is a person who claims to be the leader of the people of Israel and the State of Israel, sitting in a studio, seeking applause, and trying to joke about what happened on 7 October.
“Entire communities were massacred, our loved ones were murdered, thousands of soldiers have fallen since then, and all that interests him is joking. It is simply a disgrace.”
Sharabi was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were murdered on 7 October. He was released from Gaza in February 2025 after 491 days in captivity.
In a separate interview with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, also reported by The Jerusalem Post, Sharabi criticised Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over recent comments in which the minister claimed returned hostages were home “because of me.”
Sharabi said: “7 October, and many days after it, became days of disaster and national mourning for thousands of families. Statements of this kind are simply audacity, irresponsibility.”
Opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot also attacked the prime minister over his Channel 14 remarks, writing on X that Netanyahu was “out of touch, unfit and unworthy of this nation” while renewing his call for a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the 7 October attacks.
Netanyahu has consistently opposed establishing such an inquiry while the war is ongoing.