Ehud (Udi) Lavi, the former deputy head of the Mossad, on Sunday evening gave an interview to Channel 12 News for the first time since leaving his post, and said that the return of the hostages is affected by the fighting and that Israel will be required to make concessions.
"Two goals were set for the war: Defeat Hamas and bring back the hostages. I am convinced that the return of the hostages should be our top goal. The return of the hostages is affected by the fighting and this is part of the prioritization. This issue should be at the top of the list," said Lavi.
He added, "I trust the professionals who are working to bring about this deal - because these are people whose experience, intellect, and heart are in the right place. In the end - the political echelon makes these difficult decisions. The goal of the political echelon - the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and Minister Gantz - is to return the hostages while conducting the war."
When asked if he trusts the political echelon to make the right decision, Lavi replied, "I trust them to make the decisions and I think they are aware of the magnitude of the moment and the price that such a decision may have."
Regarding the intelligence failure that led to the Hamas attack on October 7, he said, "There was an intelligence and operational failure, this entire day was a great disaster."
Lavi also noted, "It sounds absurd to me that the Iranians did not know in advance about the attack by Hamas."