Yoav Gallant claims that a hostage deal was sabotaged by a deliberate leak
The former Minister of Defense claims that confidential parameters of the negotiations were leaked by someone seeking to prevent an agreement.
The former Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, stated that a deliberate leak had caused the failure of negotiations on the release of hostages held in Gaza. He was speaking at Reichman University during the international counterterrorism conference dedicated to Shabtai Shavit, in an interview with reserve Colonel Lior Lotan.
"This agreement was leaked by someone who had an interest in seeing the negotiations fail," Gallant said, without explicitly naming the person he accuses.
After the initial agreement in November 2023, the security apparatus had sought to obtain a new release of hostages, he explained. Several options had been considered to facilitate the discussions, including withdrawals from al-Shifa hospital and Khan Younis, and later a proposal to withdraw from the Netzarim corridor.
According to Gallant, this latest proposal had the support of key military and intelligence officials, as well as several cabinet members, including Benny Gantz, Ron Dermer, Gadi Eisenkot, and Aryeh Deri. Benjamin Netanyahu was opposed to it, he claims, before ultimately authorizing the continuation of the efforts.
The former minister also detailed the confidential mandate given to the negotiators. A document shared between Netanyahu, Gantz, and himself set a goal of releasing 33 living hostages, with a minimum threshold of 18 to finalize an agreement.
Yoav Gallant claims that after a meeting between Bezalel Smotrich and the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister had mentioned to the cabinet a prisoner exchange for 18 hostages. For the former Defense Minister, revealing this threshold directly compromised the Israeli position.
"Figures are the central secret of negotiations. If the other side knows your minimum threshold, the consequences are obvious," he emphasized.
According to his account, Benjamin Netanyahu then called him to announce that he wished to reverse the decision, following criticism in the media. Yoav Gallant maintains that Hamas, having been informed of the minimum acceptable to Israel, no longer had any interest in releasing the 33 hostages initially requested.
The former minister finally stated that the proposed arrangements were very similar to those of the agreement reached in January 2025, with the difference being the release of 110 additional prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment.