The prime minister avoided the word “deal” in a speech extolling the political horizons that have opened as a result of Operation Rising Lion.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
In a first, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Sunday the issue of freeing hostages before that of defeating Hamas, although he avoided using the word “deal” when doing so.
Speaking at a headquarters of the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), he reordered the list of priorities he had long mentioned when discussing Israel’s goals for the war in the Gaza Strip.
“First of all, to rescue the hostages,” he said. “Of course we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks.”
Until now, the government had spoken first of destroying the terror organization that led the invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping 251, sparking the ongoing war.
The switch was immediately noted especially by the main group that has always demanded the return of those taken by Hamas over a military victory that would erase it as a continuing threat to the security of the country.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised what they called Netanyahu’s shift, saying in a statement, “The families of the hostages welcome the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister.”
“This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza,” it added.
Only 20 of those being held captive are still believed to be alive.
As noted immediately by several media outlets, Netanyahu, a master wordsmith, talked of “rescuing” hostages rather than referring to any kind of deal to free them.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump had told reporters that he expected a ceasefire in Gaza “within the next week,” and according to at least one American official, the White House has put forward a deal that would liberate all of the captives while sending Hamas leaders into exile.
Senior Israeli officials told Ynet Sunday that while discussions regarding deals are “ongoing at all times,” there is “no breakthrough” as yet.
Trump is eager to use the momentum established with the victory over Iran in the recently concluded Operation Rising Lion to expand the number of countries in the Abraham Accords, those that normalized relations with Israel in Trump’s first term as president.
Netanyahu referred to this possibility when he told his Shabak audience that “as you surely know, many opportunities have opened for us following this victory,” referring specifically to the Middle East region.
Beside removing a terrible danger to Israel, the destruction of a majority of Shiite Muslim Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs has also removed a major threat to the Sunni Arab countries in the region, first and foremost Saudi Arabia, and they know it.
However, Riyadh has made clear that it is holding back due to the Hamas-Israel war.
The post In a first, Netanyahu mentions freeing hostages before defeating Hamas appeared first on World Israel News.