IDF Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the captives and missing, warned on Sunday that international pressure on Israel and domestic protests against the Netanyahu government are helping Hamas.
“Unfortunately, many people repeat the narrative that in fact we are the ones preventing a deal. But this is not the truth. It is a lie. We have never stopped a deal that was on the table,” he told Israel Hayom senior diplomatic correspondent Ariel Kahana at the Middle East-America Dialogue Summit (MEAD) summit at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C.
“Hamas learns what is happening in Israeli society and wants to divide it by using the issue of the abductees. And I have to put it on the table. And for them this is an achievement. There is a direct connection between the international pressure on Israel and the desire of Hamas to be part of the negotiations,” he said.
“When they see that Israel is under enormous pressure from our best allies, or from the United Nations, or Great Britain, or decisions by some and others in the international courts, they say to themselves that they are in no hurry,” he added.
Hirsch pointed out that Jerusalem has not received a “real answer” from the terror group since December and that the negotiations are “stalled.”
“Since November there have been virtually no negotiations and they don’t seem to want a deal,” he said. “Since December, Hamas is not really in the picture. In March they came for a few days to negotiations in Doha and then disappeared,” he added.
Ynet on Sunday cited Israeli officials as saying late on Saturday that the United States should have demanded that Qatari and Egyptian mediators place more pressure on Hamas.
They said that Qatar should be forced to expel the Hamas leaders living there and freeze the terror group’s bank accounts, but that instead, the United States is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They expressed disappointment at comments by CIA Director Williams Burns over the weekend.
Burns said on Saturday in London that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will necessitate “some hard choices and some political compromises” from both sides.
Some 90% of the proposed deal has been agreed on, he continued, but that “the last 10% is the last 10% for a reason, because it’s the hardest part to do.”
At the summit, Hirsch stressed that he is “very worried about the fate of the abductees and thinks about them all the time.”
Hamas currently holds 101 hostages, including 97 of the 251 captured on Oct. 7.
“While our negotiating team is in Doha, Hamas continues to kill hostages in Gaza. The military pressure will not stop,” he said on the main stage.
“We want all the hostages back home. We want demobilization, deradicalization, and I believe we will agree to give them [Hamas leader in Gaza Yayha Sinwar and his men] safe passage” out of Gaza, he said.
“I believe we need to act to free all the hostages, and I am pursuing every possible avenue to achieve that goal. We are waiting for the final proposal from the mediators and the United States. At the same time, our teams are working on alternative plans B, C and D,” he continued.
Hamas spokespeople do not represent the actual Hamas organization, he claimed.
“Sinwar sends his instructions, and then all the dozens of speakers speak on his behalf and speak their minds, say what they want, and they try to drive the families in Israel, the Israeli public and many people in the country and the world into madness,” he said.
The first MEAD conference includes senior diplomatic and political leaders from both major U.S. political parties as well as Israeli leaders and representatives from moderate Arab states.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, diplomat Dennis Ross and former Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams are co-chairing the inaugural summit.
