Yarden Pivko, whose father Itzik Gelernter, 56, was abducted to Gaza and is held by Hamas, is furious about the attempt to mix protests against the government with the cause of the hostages' families.
"The people at the Tel Aviv protest are not the families of the hostages, even if among the families of the hostages there are those who supported them until October 7th, it doesn't mean anything. That protest is not the protest of the families of the hostages. And with all due respect to that protest, I think it's wrong to let into the agenda or the desire or actions done by hostages' families to bring back their loved ones. Their issues were here before. Didn't we learn anything?" Pivko wondered in an interview with 103FM Radio.
"It's harmful, I see the people around us," she exclaimed. "I see who receives this information through the media, I see what it causes people to think. At the end of a 12-hour day for 140 families who think and work, do not sleep or eat for half a year, what comes out in the end is a quote from the families of the hostages to Prime Minister Netanyahu - 'We will pursue you.' I didn't understand how it's related and how they push the Draft Law."
Pivko continued and clarified that, "It's okay that they want to put pressure on the Prime Minister, there are ways to put pressure on the Prime Minister that do not involve blocking roads and not bothering people in their lives. The families here have so much to do."
"It's the right of every family, of every citizen, to deal with this matter as they see fit, I respect everyone, but I think there is exploitation here and dominance somewhat by other parties that are not related to the hostages at all, exploiting the pain of the families of the hostages and this protest," she concluded.