Kobi Ben Ami, brother of kidnapped Ohad Ben Ami, expressed his deep frustration with the government’s inaction after Hamas released a psychological warfare video claiming a hostage had been killed in captivity
In an interview with Ynet on Sunday Ben Ami said he was angry after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a nine-minute video defending his close aid Eli Feldstein, suspected of security breaches, without mentioning the hostages.
Feldstein was in custody awaiting indictment after he released a misleading report to the German Bild, claiming then Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would take hostages out of Gaza through the Philadelphy corridor, allegedly to justify Netanyahu's insistence on maintaining IDF presence there, and refusing to agree to a hostage release deal that would include withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip.
Netanyahu on Saturday posted a 9 minute speech to camera lamenting the incarceration of his aid and spokesperson and claiming the Shin Bet withheld information from him, abused and mistreated the suspect in an effort to target the prime minister.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks for 9 minutes about alleged mistreatment of arrested aid
(Photo: PMO)
"Yesterday, they announced the kidnapping of the rabbi in Dubai, then Hamas released a psychological warfare video," Ben Ami said. "After that, the prime minister puts out a nine-minute video and doesn’t mention this at all. So where are we at? I keep asking the prime minister, what are you waiting for? The next hostage to be murder in captivity? The next rape in captivity? For a family member to take drastic action?" he asked.
"Why aren’t you, Israel’s leader, responsible for the fate of 101 hostages, doing everything to bring them home? To restore the lives of survivors and bury the murdered? Every citizen in Israel should know this will be their fate should they be kidnapped from their home in their undershirt and underwear. I’m sorry to say this but this is reality."
Marking a year since the only hostage exchange deal in which Raz Ben Ami, Ohad’s wife, was freed, Kobi described her condition. "Raz returned from the horror of captivity to the reality faced by families of hostages. For a year, knowing what’s happening there, her husband and father of her daughters isn’t home. I’m sorry to say this but her condition worsens by the day — mentally, physically in all aspects."
Ben Ami also addressed Hamas' psychological warfare video, which allegedly showed a hostage murdered in Gaza captivity. The IDF said the information was under review.
"This only underscores the need to finalize a deal and bring them home," he said. "It’s unacceptable that for so long, there’s a baby, a child, women, soldiers, and men in captivity and as we see and know, the next murder or rape could happen at any moment."
"This must end. It’s simply unimaginable. I don’t know what pains me more now — missing my brother or the constant worry that the worst might happen, that I’ll get the next devastating call. It’s an indescribable situation,” he added.
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"The fear is constant, even when Hamas doesn’t release a video or do anything,” he said. “Now winter is coming and we’ve received reports from doctors and professors that they [the hostages] won’t survive another winter there — they’ll die. People still alive will die. So what are we waiting for? I truly don’t understand. We’re at our wits' end, desperate and frustrated."