The White House reached out to an Israeli-American father of a victim of the October 7 massacre to ensure him U.S. policy is unchanged, despite failing to veto a UN Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Ruby Chen, whose son Itay was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the attack and whose body was abducted and is being held in Gaza, told Ynet that the White House official said the veto power was not used because the resolution also included a call to free all the hostages.
"I think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dealing with internal politics. As [then] U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said: 'Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic politics,'" he said.
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Rubyi Chen holds an hourglass marking the time hostages are held in Gaza
(Photo: Ido Erez)
"We should remember that on October 7 Israel received unequivocal support in the greatest way from its true friend and that without the United States we would today be in an entirely different event. The people of Israel should remember that the U.S. is our true friend," according to the bereaved father.
Chen would not assign blame for the complications in the hostage release negotiations. "You have to see the gap in positions and the question before the War Cabinet and particularly the prime minister is how to bridge that gap and how we achieve total victory and the return of all the hostages, those who are alive and those who have died," he said. "This is the primary mission of the government. We will not mourn until Itay, who is a hero, will be given the burial he deserves in Israel. He and we are owned the government making sure of that," he said.
"We would be pleased to see the prime minister refer to the fact that it has been 172 days since the hostages were taken, and there are 134 still held captive. After 3.5 months of pleading, we the parents of the soldiers who were abducted expect to meet with him this week, " he added.