While expressing joy at the release of hostage, soldier, and US citizen Edan Alexander on Monday, opposition leaders criticized the fact that it came as a result of US, not Israeli, diplomacy.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a press conference ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem that Alexander’s release was “simultaneously joyful and heartbreaking.”
“Joyful because we are happy to see every hostage return home to their family, to their parents, saved from the horrors. Whoever can be brought back must be brought back.
“Heartbreaking because Edan Alexander was released because he is an American citizen, in negotiations conducted by the American administration. Those who remain in Hamas tunnels are Israeli citizens. They were not released, because the Israeli government did not make a deal to free them. The hostages are ours, and the responsibility for their return lies with the government,” Lapid said.
The opposition leader added that Alexander’s release indicated a “diplomatic failure with implications that endanger the security and well-being of the entire State of Israel,” since they indicated that “Americans are sick of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”
“The Trump administration is acting today without coordination and without listening to Netanyahu. They have reached a ceasefire with the Houthis in Yemen behind his back, are conducting dangerous negotiations with the Iranians, promoting a Saudi nuclear program, and making a hostage deal only for their own citizens,” Lapid said.
Gantz accused Netanyahu of “privatizing national security” by leaving the hostage effort to the Americans.
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz made a similar comment, saying it was “gut-wrenching” seeing Israel being “dragged along instead of taking initiative to bring back all its hostages.”
Gantz accused Netanyahu of “privatizing national security” by leaving the hostage effort to the Americans.
“I am telling you with certainty that the American administration is determined to advance normalization with Saudi Arabia as well as other major and significant countries in the region,” Gantz said.
“Either we complete a strategic transformation – strengthen the axis against Iran, eliminate its military nuclear capability, and become part of a massive diplomatic initiative led by the United States in the region – or we will be left behind.”
“We must not miss the opportunity to change the Middle East because of political considerations,” Gantz said.
The Democrats chairman Yair Golan claimed in a press conference ahead of his party’s meeting on Monday that “[US President Donald] Trump understood what millions of Israelis already know: Netanyahu has no intent to return the hostages or end the war.”
“When IDF soldiers are returned from Gaza in an American deal, while neutralizing the Israeli government, that is a diplomatic, political, security, and national failure,” Golan added.
Some government ministers responded to the criticism.
In a press conference ahead of his Religious Zionist Party meeting on Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “One must be insane to turn an event like this into something against the government.” Smotrich praised the fact that Alexander was released without Israel having to pay a price and attributed it to Israel’s military and diplomatic pressure.