"Unfortunately, many people repeat the narrative that in fact we are the ones preventing a deal. But this is not the truth. It is a lie. We have never stopped a deal that was on the table," said IDF Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch.
Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the captives and missing, warned on Sunday that international pressure on Israel and domestic protests against the Netanyahu government are helping Hamas.
“Unfortunately, many people repeat the narrative that in fact we are the ones preventing a deal. But this is not the truth. It is a lie. We have never stopped a deal that was on the table,” he told Israel Hayom senior diplomatic correspondent Ariel Kahana at the Middle East-America Dialogue Summit (MEAD) summit at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C.
“Hamas learns what is happening in Israeli society and wants to divide it by using the issue of the abductees. And I have to put it on the table. And for them this is an achievement. There is a direct connection between the international pressure on Israel and the desire of Hamas to be part of the negotiations,” he said.