Netanyahu to hostage families: Assad’s fall could facilitate deal

(JNS)  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told representatives of hostages’ families groups on Sunday that the fall of the Assad regime, weakened by Israel’s determined stand against Hezbollah and Hamas, could help advance a deal for the return of the hostages.

Netanyahu held two separate meetings in Jerusalem, one with the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum and the other with the Tikva Forum.

The two groups differ on the best way to free the hostages, with the right-leaning Tikva Forum opposing the former’s call for a deal at any cost, arguing there are collective national interests to be considered.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum reported that Netanyahu said at their meeting, “The time is ripe for a deal to release the hostages” and that he was “ready for a ceasefire to promote the return of abductees,” according to Kan News.

Einav Zangauker, whose son, Matan, 25, was abducted to the Gaza Strip by Hamas, and has emerged as one of the group’s representatives most critical of the Netanyahu government, attended the meeting.

She said that Netanyahu intends “to go for a partial deal that will save only some of the hostages out of political motives.”

“He did not commit to ending the war, which means that the prime minister intends to abandon my Matan and the young male citizens that are alive,” she said.

Hamas released a video of Zangauker’s son on Dec. 7. It was the first proof of life she has had since his abduction.

The video was not dated but in it he says he has been held for 420 days, indicating the video was filmed recently.

“I finally heard Matan call me mother yesterday, I heard his cry and saw the fear in his eyes,” she said excitedly. “It’s exciting to see my Matan, who I’ve been fighting for, for 14 months—to see him alive.”