With the decline in optimism about the nearness of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Hamas movement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing popular pressure at home, as his critics accuse him of not seeking a deal for political reasons.
While many family members of Israeli prisoners detained in the Gaza Strip since the attack of last October 7th complained of mistreatment by the government.
Some of them, who hold both American and Israeli citizenship, told Netanyahu during their meeting with him yesterday, Thursday, that they were receiving better treatment from the White House, compared to the Israeli government, according to two sources who attended the meeting revealed.
“Maintain the relationship with Biden”
The two informed sources also explained that a family member of a detained American-Israeli citizen told Netanyahu that the White House not only embraces the families, but also supports them and keeps them informed of what is going on, unlike the Israeli government, according to what Axios reported.
He asked Netanyahu to maintain good relations with the United States and US President Joe Biden, despite their differences.
Meanwhile, another member of the prisoner’s family told the Israeli Prime Minister that it is important to keep the issue of prisoners of interest to the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States.
On the other hand, Netanyahu’s response, according to various sources, focused on justifying his position and his opposition to Washington.
He also recalled several historical moments in which America put pressure on Tel Aviv, but it later became clear that it had made a mistake.
Fierce attacks
This meeting came as many families of prisoners detained in Gaza complained of being subjected to fierce attacks on social media by Netanyahu supporters, in addition to some of them being subjected to physical attacks as well, while they were demonstrating publicly and demanding that the government make more efforts to release the hostages.
It also came as senior members of Netanyahu’s government, including the ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, expressed their belief that the prisoner file should not be the country’s top priority, because destroying Hamas is the most important thing.
It is noteworthy that Biden met with the families of the prisoners and communicated with them more than once, as did Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, as well as CIA Director Bill Burns and many other American officials.
Nearly 130 Israeli prisoners remain in the besieged Palestinian Strip, with 30 of them likely killed. While negotiations are still ongoing between the Israeli and Hamas sides through Egyptian, Qatari and American mediation since last December, in order to reach an agreement.
More than a week ago, these discussions witnessed a sign of optimism, but the level of hope quickly declined recently following discussion of the details and some outstanding conditions.
