Leak: Netanyahu Mocks Relatives - "What Agreement?"

Those who believe that an agreement with Hamas would "solve everything" are delusional, claims Israel's increasingly pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In leaked recordings from a meeting with relatives of hostages in Gaza, he is heard contradicting and ridiculing the audience.

» Updated: October 03 2024

» Published: August 26 2024

Leak: Netanyahu Mocks Relatives - "What Agreement?"
Photo: Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP/TT

I want them here, exclaims a daughter of a hostage during the recorded meeting with the Prime Minister, referring to those who are still being held captive by Hamas.

And I want to walk to Italy in a straight line, Netanyahu responds sarcastically.

The metaphor, in an analysis in the Israeli Haaretz called "astonishing", is one of several comments that have sparked criticism since they leaked from Friday's meeting between Netanyahu and a group of freed hostages and relatives of hostages in Gaza.

In one of the three recordings, released by TV channel Keshet 12, Netanyahu appears to lose patience when meeting participants repeatedly raise the hostages' situation and ask the Prime Minister to accept the agreement on the negotiating table.

What agreement? Which agreement? Whoever says there is an agreement on the table that we haven't accepted for some reason, they're lying, he responds angrily.

Compared to the Holocaust

In the recordings, Netanyahu claims that he is fighting for the country's continued existence in a situation where Hezbollah and Iran want to destroy Israel.

We're not talking about anything else but that agreement. "If we make an agreement, everything will be solved – Iran will stop", etcetera etcetera. It's madness. It's delusions, he says.

A freed hostage questions Netanyahu's emphasis on "victory" in the war against Hamas.

We've already lost on October 7, she says, referring to the terrorist- branded Islamist movement Hamas' brutal attack on Israel, which marked the start of the war.

In the recording, Netanyahu quickly objects – and compares to the mass murders of Jews during the Holocaust.

We didn't lose, he says, and continues:

During the Holocaust, there were 4,500 to 5,000 "October 7" every day.

Defended by his wife

In Haaretz' analysis of the recordings, Netanyahu is described as "heartless" and "totally insensitive". Among other things, he responds to a former hostage's account of torture during captivity by pointing out that he too was once a hostage – during a military exercise.

In Israeli media, his wife Sara is also criticized for "mouthing off" with former hostages and relatives and lacking empathy.

When the responsibility for the October 7 attack is raised, Sara Netanyahu defends her husband by blaming the country's military.

A leader is responsible for his army, responds one of the meeting participants.

Born in 1949 in Tel Aviv. Grew up in Jerusalem, later educated in the USA. In the army, Netanyahu served in an elite unit from 1967 to 1973, when he left the military with the rank of captain.

His older brother Yonatan was part of the same elite unit, but was killed in 1976 during an attempt to free Israeli hostages on a hijacked plane in Uganda. Little brother Benjamin had then begun a career in the USA, but moved back to Israel and entered politics.

Leader of the right-wing party Likud, Prime Minister of Israel 1996–1999 and 2009–2021. In 2022, he managed to regain power, but only after laboriously piecing together a coalition with, among others, small extremist parties.

The process contributed to the perception of Netanyahu as a power-hungry politician. Even before the Gaza war, regular, large street protests were held, then against the government's attempts to shift power from the courts to politics – legislative proposals that sparked accusations of the Prime Minister wanting to curb the judiciary to get away with his own corruption.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, large demonstrations against Netanyahu's way of waging war – and inability to bring home hostages held by terrorist-branded Hamas in Gaza – have been held in several Israeli cities.

Tags

TTT
By TTThis article has been altered and translated by Sweden Herald

More news

Israel Intensifies Gaza Operation with
1 MIN READ

Israel Intensifies Gaza Operation with Strikes on Khan Yunis and Rafah

Frederiksen Visits Greenland as Concerns
2 MIN READ

Frederiksen Visits Greenland as Concerns Over US Interest Persist

China Conducts Extensive Military Drills
1 MIN READ

China Conducts Extensive Military Drills Near Taiwan's Coast

White House Evaluates Economic Impact
2 MIN READ

White House Evaluates Economic Impact of Potential Greenland Acquisition

WWII Codebreaker Charlotte Webb, Honored
2 MIN READ

WWII Codebreaker Charlotte Webb, Honored by Queen, Dies at 101

Russian Envoy Dmitrijev to Meet
1 MIN READ

Russian Envoy Dmitrijev to Meet US Officials in Washington Talks

Genre image
1 MIN READ

Russian Drone Strike Injures Three in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Cory Booker's 25-Hour Senate Speech
3 MIN READ

Cory Booker's 25-Hour Senate Speech Sets Record in Trump Protest

Trump Adviser Faces Scrutiny Over
2 MIN READ

Trump Adviser Faces Scrutiny Over Private Email Use in Security Role

Zelenskyj Seeks Support for Potential
1 MIN READ

Zelenskyj Seeks Support for Potential Peacekeeping Forces in Ukraine

Denmark Sets 18-Year Age Limit
1 MIN READ

Denmark Sets 18-Year Age Limit for High-Alcohol Drinks

Le Pen Awaits Appeal Verdict
2 MIN READ

Le Pen Awaits Appeal Verdict on 2027 Election Ban Next Summer

Fourth Missing US Soldier Found
1 MIN READ

Fourth Missing US Soldier Found Dead in Lithuania

Russian Advances in Eastern Ukraine
1 MIN READ

Russian Advances in Eastern Ukraine Slow for Fourth Month

Bird Flu Outbreak Hits Danish
1 MIN READ

Bird Flu Outbreak Hits Danish Farm, 24 Chickens Culled

23 States Sue Trump Administration
2 MIN READ

23 States Sue Trump Administration Over Health Funding Cuts

Europol Set for Expansion in
1 MIN READ

Europol Set for Expansion in New EU Security Strategy

Search Continues for Missing Plane
1 MIN READ

Search Continues for Missing Plane in Norway with Two Feared Dead

Trump's First Foreign Trip as
1 MIN READ

Trump's First Foreign Trip as President: Saudi Arabia and Beyond

Danish Police Arrest 10 Bandidos
1 MIN READ

Danish Police Arrest 10 Bandidos Gang Members at Sejet Inn

German EU Politician Faces Probe
1 MIN READ

German EU Politician Faces Probe Over Controversial Nazi Greeting Post

EU Eyes Boosting Eastern Infrastructure
1 MIN READ

EU Eyes Boosting Eastern Infrastructure for Defense and Development

23 States Sue Trump Administration
2 MIN READ

23 States Sue Trump Administration Over $11 Billion Health Cuts

Red Cross Faces Deadliest Attack
2 MIN READ

Red Cross Faces Deadliest Attack in Eight Years During Gaza Conflict

Georgia Approves US-Inspired Agent Law
1 MIN READ

Georgia Approves US-Inspired Agent Law After Criticism

Scottish Fisherman Missing Since 2021
1 MIN READ

Scottish Fisherman Missing Since 2021 Identified on Norwegian Coast

Ukraine Election Preparations Denied by
1 MIN READ

Ukraine Election Preparations Denied by Zelenskyj's Party Leader

Genre image
1 MIN READ

Norwegian Man Gets Life for Murdering Finnish Hockey Star Janne Puhakka

Denmark Sees Highest Wolf Population
1 MIN READ

Denmark Sees Highest Wolf Population in Modern History

USA and Ukraine Resume Talks
1 MIN READ

USA and Ukraine Resume Talks on Key Mineral Agreement

Finland Prepares to Exit Ottawa
1 MIN READ

Finland Prepares to Exit Ottawa Treaty on Personal Mines

Denmark Boosts Defense with 130
1 MIN READ

Denmark Boosts Defense with 130 New Armored Vehicles from Finland

Media Worker Killed in Gaza
1 MIN READ

Media Worker Killed in Gaza as Evacuations Ordered in the North

Palestinian Teen Dies in Israeli
2 MIN READ

Palestinian Teen Dies in Israeli Prison After Six Months Without Charge

Bardella Slams Le Pen Verdict
1 MIN READ

Bardella Slams Le Pen Verdict as Politically Driven in EU Funds Case

Iceland's Grindavík Evacuated as Lava
2 MIN READ

Iceland's Grindavík Evacuated as Lava Flows from New Eruption

Woman Rescued 91 Hours After
3 MIN READ

Woman Rescued 91 Hours After Myanmar Earthquake Kills 2,700

UNICEF Reports Over 300 Children
1 MIN READ

UNICEF Reports Over 300 Children Killed in Gaza in Recent Conflict

145 Injured in Massive Gas
2 MIN READ

145 Injured in Massive Gas Pipeline Fire Near Kuala Lumpur

SpaceX Rocket Launches First Norwegian
2 MIN READ

SpaceX Rocket Launches First Norwegian to Space in 46-Minute Polar Journey