CNN
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said defeating Israeli enemies on Thursday was more important than ensuring the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that the release of the remaining 59 hostages was a “very important goal,” but he described Israel’s fight against the enemy as the “highest purpose” of the war.
“We have a lot of goals and there are many goals in this war. We want to get all the hostages back,” Netanyahu said. “It’s a very important goal. War has the highest purpose, and its highest purpose is victory over our enemies. That’s what we achieve.”
Netanyahu’s remarks, which came to Israel’s Independence Day, show for the first time that the prime minister has explicitly explained that hostages will be returned as a secondary target for the war. He has previously said he has defeated Hamas and secured the release of hostages as the main target for Israeli war in Gaza.
His comments sparked backlash from representatives of hostage families.
“Prime Minister, the return of hostages is not “not that important.” Leading the Israeli government is our top goal,” the Hostages and Missing Family Forum said in a statement. “Hostage families are concerned.”
Netanyahu’s comments are in conflict with most of Israel, which has overwhelmingly supportive of deals to free all hostages and end the war in Gaza, according to recent polls.
However, it placed the prime minister in the company of Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezarel Smotrich. He recently made a similar comment.
“We need to tell the truth. Retrieving hostages is not the most important goal. Of course, it’s a very, very, very, very important goal,” Smotrich said last week. “However, anyone who wants to destroy Hamas and eliminate the possibility of another October 7th must understand that Hamas exists in Gaza and there is no situation as it is.”
Members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition are urging the prime minister to continue his fight. High Israeli officials have warned for weeks that the military will step up operations in Gaza without a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Sources familiar with the issue told CNN that Netanyahu will be meeting with senior defense authorities on Friday as Israel prepares to expand the war.
Israel says that combined with the fires in Gaza and the two-month total lockdown, it is an attempt to pressure Hamas to make concessions in ceasefire negotiations. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, saying it cannot continue to control the enclave.
This is the second time Netanyahu has faced backlash from hostage families. On Monday, his wife Sarah listened to her ears on the microphone, saying that “less than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza. The statement infuriated the family, prompting a demand for the government to clarify what they know about the fate of their loved ones and questions about why the Prime Minister’s wife has sensitive information about loved ones they don’t.
“You sowed an indescribable panic in the hearts of hostage families – families who already live in painful uncertainty,” the forum said in a statement. “If we have intelligence or new information regarding the condition of a loved one, we request full disclosure.”
Israel has publicly said in recent weeks that it believes up to 24 of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive. Sarah Netanyahu’s claims are likely indications that the government may have information that some of the 24 hostages have died.
Israeli officials last week told CNN there were “serious concerns” about the three hostages, but they wouldn’t say if Israel knew for certain that they were dead. For months, Israeli officials used the same language to refer to hostage Silivivvas and her two children, whose bodies were returned in the latest ceasefire.
There are also pressure on Netanyahu from military reserves who have increasingly spoken out against the war, with several official letters saying that the Gaza War will primarily serve the political and personal interests of officials, rather than the national security interests.
