The hostages don't seem to be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top priority, and now the focus on the North risks leaving Gaza and the hostages to be ignored, Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, told Tamar Uriel-Beeri on The Jerusalem Post Podcast, who added that international pressure must be put on Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach a ceasefire.
The two of them have had several high-profile meetings with top-ranking officials, including IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and even Netanyahu.
"We've met with Prime Minister Netanyahu multiple times, both in Israel but also in New York, in Europe, in Washington," Ronen said. "The one major meeting we had with him was actually in the White House together with President [Joe] Biden, where the American-Israeli families were invited to a meeting with the prime minister and the president in a very special setting."
However, the meeting did not fill the families with confidence.
"We all went out not feeling great about the prime minister's intention to finish the war and release the hostages," Ronen confirmed. "It doesn't feel like it's his top priority."
The return of the hostages: Something unifying a majority of Israelis
The Neutras, who live in New York but whose son, lone soldier Omer Neutra, was taken hostage on October 7, discussed how the issue of the hostages has become a major topic in Israel.
"We see the number of Israelis going to the streets every week growing in number. At one point, there were close to half a million people in the street. That's equivalent to 20 million Americans going out on the same day to protest," Ronen said. "I think 70% of the Israeli population are the top priority and they need to come home.
Hamas has required any hostage deal to include an end to the war, which many have criticized. But for the Neutras and many others, the end of the war isn't the goal - that would be the return of the hostages. But ending the war is a plus.
"By getting the hostages and ending the war, or at least reaching a permanent ceasefire, you're really diffusing the situation in the Middle East, because Hezbollah will stop shooting at Israel from the North," Ronen said. This would prevent one of their biggest fears: that the focus on the North would leave Gaza essentially forgotten, where the IDF wouldn't be attacking, but also wouldn't be rescuing hostages.
The solution, they claim, is a ceasefire, and that will require pressure.
"The pressure must be put internationally on [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar to reach [a hostage deal], and I have to say on Bibi Netanyahu as well," Ronen said. "The national resilience of Israel is not built from how many F-15s Israel has, or how many tanks. It's on the strength of its people. And the people of Israel, the majority, are looking at the hostages and saying, it could have been us. It may be us. It will be us if those 101 hostages don't come back."
He added: "This is a terrible, terrible event that happened, but the responsibility on fixing it and bringing them back is on the shoulder of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government, and they need to act. There's no other way."
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