Sitting on top of a car on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, his voice weary and blaring a megaphone, Einav Tsengaukar addresses a spontaneous crowd that gathered after Hamas announced its approval of the cease-fire agreement on the night of May 6. do. “This is probably the last chance for our loved ones to return home alive,” Tzengauker exclaimed. “If our prime minister misses this opportunity, we will mobilize all Israelis. The streets will burn, the country will burn. We cannot play with people's lives like this,” her 24-year-old son Matan said on October 7. He was kidnapped in Nir Oz on the same day.
Her complaints reflect the emotional roller coaster of the past few politically tense days. The feeling of abandonment was stronger than ever on Monday night when the War Cabinet announced that operations in Rafah would continue. “Our far-right leaders are ready to sacrifice hostages and soldiers to save their seats,” Zengauker said, adding that he no longer expected even a show of sympathy from the government.
“There is no empathy for the family.”
As members of Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF), a grassroots organization made up of both Israelis and Palestinians who have lost loved ones in the conflict, Einav and relatives of other hostages fought for 213 days. This continues, and some families have converted. From untouchable citizens to real targets. Einav was targeted by powerful water cannon during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on February 24, and journalist Ynon Magar of the Religious Zionist Movement also called him a “criminal” on the radio.
“This is a form of intimidation, a way to discourage and silence people,” says Zahiro Shahar Mol. The banker, who has a shaved head and a beard, is also detained in Gaza by his 78-year-old uncle Abraham Munder, who has been arrested twice and was due to be questioned on May 1 on suspicion of damaging property. I was called. During a demonstration on April 27, he tagged the front of the right-wing Likud party's offices in Tel Aviv with the words “Bibi is a murderer.” “This is all political,” he declared. “(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and his government have turned us into internal enemies. There is no sympathy for the family. It is easier to manage a war.”
“Everything you say against Netanyahu helps Hamas.”
These “enemies” are primarily families who demand Prime Minister Netanyahu's resignation and insist on a ceasefire rather than a military operation in Rafah, which they expect will be deadly for their loved ones. “At least three people received a message from the prime minister's office saying, 'Everything you say against Netanyahu will help Sinwar (Hamas leader in Gaza),'” Zahiro Shahar Mol said. “This is official propaganda and is widely echoed in mainstream media. But if we don't scream, no one will. We are the lifeline and oxygen for those in the tunnels. The stakes are to continue to exist in public opinion, but we are fighting against governments that control the media cycle.
When public support is needed, the prime minister and others on the Israeli political right settle for the bare minimum of a few statements and a meeting or two. In contrast, US President Joe Biden just welcomed 4-year-old hostage Abigail Idan, who was freed in November, to the White House on April 24, with a photo of the smiling little girl in Biden's arms. commemorated her visit. Likud's WhatsApp group explicitly asked Prime Minister Netanyahu not to share this information to avoid tarnishing his image.
