An emotionally charged meeting took place between families of hostages being held in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at the beginning of January of this year, and a recording of the meeting was published on Channel 12 News on Sunday.
Sara Netanyahu's remarks in that meeting caused an uproar, after she claimed that the messages that the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, hears in the Israeli media - strengthen him and make it more difficult for the efforts to return the hostages.
The Prime Minister's wife told the families of the hostages, "Sinwar receives one thing - the messages from the Israeli media, which are messages that only encourage him to be strong against Israel. And this is something we also all need to think about."
A family member of a hostage responded and said, "That’s not for sure."
Sara Netanyahu said, "He receives messages, in my opinion not from you, but from other factors, especially from the media."
The family members were outraged by the claim and said, "How do you know? Did you talk to Sinwar? Do you know what he hears? Is it 12 or 13 or 14?"
The Prime Minister's wife responded, "I'm sorry, I didn't talk to him."
The family members replied, "We don't know, but the hostages who returned from there, and met with Sinwar, they know. They know very well. And they were very happy to hear in the media that there is concern for them and protests for them. And before that, they thought they had abandoned them, because they were abandoned on October 7."
A relative of the hostages added, "We hear here the continuation of the incitement and separation that exists in the nation, that's exactly what she did."
Another family member said, "Instead of being together, that’s what she says now, you understand?"