Israeli politicians mourned in statements on Thursday the slain hostages Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, whose bodies were returned by Hamas to Israel as part of the ongoing hostage-prisoner swap.
“Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts – the hearts of an entire nation – lie in tatters,” President Isaac Herzog wrote on X/Twitter.
“On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely. May their memory be a blessing,” Herzog wrote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a video statement on Thursday afternoon expressing the mourning of the country.
“My brothers and sisters, dear citizens of Israel, on this day, we are all united. We are all united in unbearable grief. Every home in Israel bows its head today,” he said.
“We bow our heads over the heavy loss of our four hostages. We all share a pain that is mixed with rage. We are all outraged at the monsters of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, said on Instagram that her heart “cries and grieves with the entire people of Israel.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz shared a post on X, sharing in the grief while also threatening to “avenge” Israel’s enemies.
“The heart of the entire nation mourns today. Hamas kidnapped, Hamas murdered, Hamas will be destroyed,” Katz he said.
“We will avenge our enemies and secure our future,” the post said.
לב האומה כולה מתאבל היום.החמאס חטף, החמאס רצח, החמאס יושמד. ננקום באויבינו ונבטיח את עתידנו.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 20, 2025
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposed the hostage swap, wrote on X, “We are waking up to a difficult morning for all of us. A morning that sharpens the cruelty of our enemies and the righteousness of our determined fight against them until they are eradicated from the face of the earth. The entire nation of Israel embraces the families and the heroic community of Nir Oz and shares in their deep sorrow,” he wrote.
“This is an especially difficult day, once again showing who we are fighting against and how distorted our enemy is,” Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar said at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “What we witnessed today reinforces the nation that surrendering to Hamas’s dictates is not an option. We are determined to achieve all the objectives of the war.”
'Day of heavy mourning'
Democrats Party chairman Yair Golan wrote on X, “A day of heavy mourning. The heart is filled with deep sorrow and anger for Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas – if the Israeli government had acted in time, they might still be with us, alongside Yarden, who fought in captivity for them for a year and four months. It is impossible not to reflect with pain on the fate of Oded Lifshitz, who, while his wife Yokheved returned home, he was left behind and never got to see her again.”
“It is impossible and forbidden to forget that the Israeli government abandoned its citizens on October 7 – and then repeatedly abandoned them again and again. All[Return] all of them – now! No lies, no politics, no delays,” Golan wrote.
A Knesset Finance Committee meeting led by substitute chairman MK Yitzhak Pindrus (United Torah Judaism) began on Thursday morning, but Pindrus cut it short after opposition MKs criticized him for holding a meeting at the same time that the slain hostages were returning home.