Families of Oct. 7 hostages demand Netanyahu and Likud stop saying, 'We brought everyone back'
The families of the six hostages murdered in Rafah launched a “We didn’t come home!” campaign, with billboards along the Ayalon Highway and across the country.
Families of hostages who were murdered or killed in captivity issued an open letter to PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party, demanding that they stop using the phrase "We brought everyone back" as part of their election campaign.
"We demand of you: if even a single drop of humanity remains within you, stop using our loved ones for the purposes of election propaganda," the families wrote.
"Do not use their deaths to ask the public for another term. You did not bring our loved ones back. Their bodies returned in coffins. No election campaign can erase this fact."
The letter described the October 7 attack as "the greatest failure in the history of the State of Israel" and said it occurred on the watch of Netanyahu's government. The families wrote that 251 people were abducted to the Gaza Strip that day, and that 46 of them were taken alive but did not return alive.
"There were opportunities to save them; there were moments when different choices could have been made," the letter said, adding that the political leadership made decisions that left the hostages in captivity, "and they paid for this with their lives."
The families said that in recent weeks Netanyahu and members of his party repeatedly stated, "We brought back all the hostages." They argued the phrase erases the distinction between those who returned to their families alive and those who did not.
"You are attempting to transform the deaths of our loved ones into a political success story," the letter said. The families wrote that their loved ones could have been here today, hugging them, laughing with them, and living their lives.
The families accused Netanyahu of trying to "whitewash the failure, evade accountability, and rewrite history." They wrote that the honorable course would have been to stand up, apologize, take responsibility, establish a state commission of inquiry, and step down from public life, as the heads of the security establishment have done.
"But you chose not to do so," the letter stated.
"If you are incapable of taking responsibility for the deaths of our loved ones, then at the very least, do not attempt to gain political capital from their graves," the families wrote. The letter closed with the words "We will not let you forget them," and the families said they would not let the public forget that the hostages did not come home alive.
In light of the letter, and of Netanyahu's claim, the families of the six hostages murdered in Rafah launched a campaign this morning under the message "We didn't come home!" The campaign includes billboards along the Ayalon Highway and throughout the country.
The letter was signed by "Families of the hostages who were abducted alive and did not return alive."
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Complete list of family members who signed the letter:
- Adi Marciano — Mother of Noa Marciano, who was abducted alive and murdered in Hamas captivity.
- Dikla and Yonatan Shamriz — Mother and brother of Alon Shamriz, who was abducted alive and accidentally killed by Israeli military fire in the Gaza Strip.
- Reut Even-Tov and Noam Peri — Daughters of Chaim Peri, who was abducted alive and murdered in Hamas captivity.
- Ora Gazit — Daughter-in-law of Arye Zalmanovich, who was abducted alive and murdered in Hamas captivity.
- Yocheved Lifshitz — A captivity survivor and widow of Oded Lifshitz, who was abducted alive from Nir Oz and murdered in captivity; her son, Omri Lifshitz, and her daughter, Sharone Lifschitz.
- Esther Buchshtab — Mother of Yagev Buchshtab, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.
- Merav Svirsky — Daughter of Orit and Rafi Svirsky, who were murdered in Be’eri, and sister of Itay Svirsky, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.
- Carmit Palti Katzir — Daughter of Rami Katzir, who was murdered on October 7, and Hanna Katzir, who was abducted, released and subsequently died from the effects of her captivity; and sister of Elad Katzir, who was abducted and abandoned to die in captivity.
- Michel Iluz — Father of Guy Iluz, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.
- Eshel and Or Gat — Father and brother of Carmel Gat, who was abducted alive and murdered in Hamas captivity; Snir Dan, Carmel’s uncle; and Shai and Gil Dickmann, her cousins.
- Danny Elgarat — Brother of Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted alive and murdered under torture in Hamas captivity.
- Matti Dancyg — Son of Alex Dancyg, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity; and Talia and Elia Dancyg Lichtman, Alex’s granddaughters.
- Gal Goren — Son of Maya Goren, who was murdered in Nir Oz and whose body was taken to Gaza, and Avner Goren, who was murdered in Nir Oz.
- Maayan Sherman — Mother of Ron Sherman, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.
- Sergey and Yekaterina Beizer — Parents of soldier Nik Beizer, who was abducted alive from the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Office and murdered in captivity.
- Rani and Ayala Metzger — Son and daughter-in-law of captivity survivor Tami Metzger and Yoram Metzger, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.
- Shahar Mor (Zahiro) — Nephew of Avraham Munder, who was abducted alive and murdered in captivity.