Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected the Hamas terrorist group’s conditions for a hostage release deal.
NTD spoke to Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and an independent Middle East strategic intelligence analyst, to find out more behind the Israeli government’s reasoning in choosing not to make a deal at any cost.
“Israel is very sensitive when it comes to the whole issue of its citizens,” said Mr. Melamed. “And particularly when you’re talking about hostages [being] kidnapped: Israel is committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens. This is like an unwritten covenant, so to speak, between the citizens and the State of Israel, and any government in Israel. So on the one hand, it’s something that is almost part of the Israeli DNA, to put it this way.”
“In Israel, in public opinion, there is a consensus wall to wall that the war should continue, and Hamas’s military power should be eliminated,” he said.
