{"id":269487,"date":"2026-02-02T00:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/269487\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T00:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T00:47:10","slug":"ex-hostages-demand-gal-hirsch-quit-after-despicable-comments-that-protests-helped-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/269487\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-hostages demand Gal Hirsch quit after ‘despicable comments’ that protests helped Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of former hostages and their relatives on Sunday demanded the resignation of Gal Hirsch, the government\u2019s hostage point man, after he said in a series of interviews<\/a> published over the weekend that mass demonstrations on behalf of the hostages had aided Hamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor two years, Hirsch presented the families with a collection of lies and eye-rolling, threatening, and blackmailing us not to speak out against the prime minister, while holding an official position and a position of power over us and our loved ones who were held captive by Hamas,\u201d the letter read, according to Hebrew media outlets.<\/p>\n

The letter, which was sent to Hirsch on Sunday evening, is signed by former hostages Shani Goren, Arbel Yehoud, Ada Sagi, Nili Margalit, and Karina Engelbert, as well as more than 70 relatives of former captives, including from the Bibas<\/a>, Calderon<\/a>, Avigdori,<\/a> and Or<\/a> families.<\/p>\n

In an interview with<\/a> The Times of Israel that was published on Sunday, Hirsch said that the weekly hostage protests \u201camplified\u201d Hamas propaganda in a way that \u201cshocked\u201d him. He made similar contents in several other Hebrew media interviews.<\/p>\n

The letter said that Hirsch\u2019s \u201cdespicable comments against the struggle of families and against specific families are the continuation of the abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

The letter demanded that Hirsch resign \u201cimmediately\u201d as head of the government\u2019s hostages directorate, which he announced on Thursday is now pivoting to focus on rehabilitation for former hostages and their families.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tFormer hostage Arbel Yehoud appears before the Knesset Women and Gender Equality Committee, May 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Hirsch is \u201cnow clearly nothing more than a political appendage seeking a reserved spot on a party list ahead of the election,\u201d the family members alleged in the letter.<\/p>\n

They demanded that he leave public office \u201cso that no family will continue to be subjected to psychological abuse and threats by someone who was supposed to protect their loved ones and who is unquestionably tainted by a conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with Haaretz published Friday, Hirsch also said that \u201cthere was no need to create a feeling of urgency for us [to return them].\u201d<\/p>\n

The signatories to the letter slammed Hirsch, claiming that \u201cat no stage did he demand [the hostages\u2019] return as the highest priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause human life was not urgent enough for him, the hostages who survived endured prolonged torture; the hostages who were murdered were consigned to unmarked graves; and 46 who could have returned alive were killed or murdered in captivity or died due to lack of medical care,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tFreed Israeli hostage Or Levy sits with the audience during an event in Glenhazel, near Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 31, 2025. (EMMANUEL CROSET \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

In the wake of Hirsch\u2019s comments, a number of former hostages and family members spoke out publicly<\/a> over the weekend against him.<\/p>\n

Or Levy, who was held captive in Gaza for 491 days after his wife, Eynav<\/a>, was murdered at the Supernova music festival, wrote to Hirsch on social media that he wasn\u2019t \u201csure if you really know who I am,\u201d since they had never interacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cGal Hirsch, shame on you! Who are you to speak about us or our families?\u201d Levy wrote. \u201cWho are you to say anything to my 70-year-old parents, who had to tell a 2-year-old baby that his mother was murdered and his father \u2018was lost\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

Levy said that Hirsch once called his mother after his return, and asked if he wanted to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said no. Because I don\u2019t need favors from anyone. And now I see how the election campaign is the only thing that matters,\u201d Levy wrote.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tIs accurate Israel coverage important to you?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

If so, we have a request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fact-based coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI’m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tI’m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.<\/p>\n

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of former hostages and their relatives on Sunday demanded the resignation of Gal Hirsch, the government\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-269487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}