By World Israel News Staff

The brother of an Israeli soldier who has been held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for nearly 18 months slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a rally on Saturday evening.

Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod was kidnapped from a Gaza-adjacent military base on October 7, 2023, attacked the premier and the Israeli government in a series of incendiary remarks.

“The government prefers dead hostages. Dead hostages talk less. They don’t give interviews, or fly to [meet] Trump,” Cohen said.

Notably, Cohen’s remarks reflect Hamas rhetoric often featured in their propaganda, which claims that the Israeli government, rather than the terror group, is murdering the hostages.

Cohen specifically mentioned Hamas during his speech, comparing the murderous organization to Netanyahu. He spoke about Hamas claiming that anti-war demonstrations in the Gaza Strip benefit Israel, discouraging local Gazans to participate.

Ministers in Netanyahu’s government have warned that demonstrations calling for the release of the hostages are strengthening Hamas’ bargaining power, and therefore, the prime minister is trying to shut down dissent just like Hamas, Cohen charged.

“Netanyahu and Hamas use the same rhetoric and the same psychological terrorism for suppression and silencing,” Cohen said. “The symmetry is sickening.”

Cohen blamed the media statements of Israel government ministers for Hamas’ maltreatment of the hostages.

“For every populist tweet by Ben Gvir about humanitarian aid, another hostage is starved.

For every threat by [Defense Minister Israel] Katz, another hostage is beaten,” he claimed. “For every statement by Netanyahu, another hostage loses hope that they’ll be brought back home.”

He appeared to be referencing an interview with a freed hostage who said that his captors had denied him food after Ben Gvir announced that he was cutting food portions for Nukhba terrorists.

However, Cohen glossed over the fact that the ex-captive also stressed that he was beaten every time the IAF bombed the Strip, suggesting that the terrorists were searching for any excuse to torture hostages.