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Fury as Likud candidate whose son fell in Gaza wishes return to Hamas for former hostage
Itzik Bonzel made the remarks after Yocheved Lifshitz, whose husband was also murdered in Gaza, gave Netanyahu no credit for the return of any hostages
A candidate for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party whose son was killed fighting in Gaza has apologised after telling a former hostage who criticised the government that he wishes there was a way to return her to Hamas.
Itzik Bonzel, whose son Amit was an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in late 2023, made his comments after an interview given by Yocheved Lifshitz to Israel’s Channel 13, in which she said that the Israeli Prime Minister “didn’t bring back a single hostage; [Israeli-American billionaire] Miriam Adelson bought us from Trump. If this government remains after the elections, it will be a disaster for the country.”
Bonzel responded with fury on social media, addressing Lifshitz and saying that “the person who rescued you from the darkness of the Gaza tunnels was not Miriam Adelson, but hundreds of heroes who entered that hell to bring you back alive – some of whom never returned. Our sons paid with their lives and with the heartbroken blood of every home in Israel so that you could sit safely in yours. How pathetic, infuriating, and out of touch your words are. In the face of such shameful statements, and the unbearable pain of losing the sons who fell for you, the rage simply knows no bounds.
“I have never written in such a manner before, but I wish there were a way to turn back the clock and return you to the hands of Hamas – because in the face of this display of ingratitude, it seems you simply did not deserve to have our precious, holy sons sacrifice their lives for you.”
“Your hatred for Netanyahu has driven you out of your mind, shattered every trace of morality and shame, and trampled the honour of those who rescued you at the cost of their lives. Silence in the face of such a rock-bottom disgrace is an unforgivable sin.”
Bonzel is ranked 29th on Likud’s party list for the upcoming election, meaning that he will win a seat in the Knesset if the party receives enough votes to claim at least 29 seats.
Mrs Lifshitz responded by saying that “Netanyahu sent his appointee to incite against me so that people wouldn’t talk about the intelligence warnings that reached him, and about the personal warning calls he received that could have prevented the failure.
She went on to say that “Netanyahu’s lies and slander will not help him; the people of Israel understand full well that he is responsible for the failure. He abandoned me on 7 October, abandoned my husband Oded and 45 other hostages taken alive to die in captivity, and continues to jeopardize our security. I have no fear – not of him, and not of the circle of agitators surrounding him.”
She also invited the Israeli public to go to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to visit a Sukkah which has been built there in protest at the government’s security failures.
Bonzel subsequently released a further statement, which said: “”As a bereaved father, who lost his son in the war to return hostages, it pained me to see the harsh things that humiliated our soldiers, but in a storm of emotions, I wrote a sentence about Yocheved Lifshitz in the context of Hamas, which I did not mean, and I apologise.”
In response to the Likud candidate’s comments, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, widely seen as the key party challenging Netanyahu, wrote that “Yocheved Lifshitz is a heroine. A veteran kibbutznik from Nir Oz who was abducted from her home on the morning of October 7th along with her husband Oded z”l, who was murdered in captivity.
“The government of failure, led by Netanyahu, which only knows how to lead to abysses and evade responsibility, is displaying yet another moral low. A party that long ago lost its way. Worthy leadership would bow its head before the Israelis whose basic contract was breached by the State of Israel, would have taken responsibility long ago and asked for forgiveness. Someone who drafted a person who wishes for an Israeli citizen to fall into the hands of Hamas is unworthy of leading this nation. Someone who wished for an Israeli citizen to fall into the hands of Hamas is unworthy of being a public elected official in the Israeli Knesset.
“Yocheved, I ask for forgiveness on behalf of all of us. I commit to continue acting, so that Israel will have responsible leadership that is good for Israel. So that we will be worthy.”
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