MK Ohad Tal spoke to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News ahead of the Cabinet's discussion of the deal to free dozens of hostages who have been held by the Hamas terrorist organization since October 7.
MK Tal said that “as a member of the security and foreign affairs committee I cannot talk about things that I don’t have the details about. I don’t have the details about any deal, besides what I hear in the media of course. I can talk about the principles I believe in."
He warned that "negotiating with Hamas, negotiating with Yahya Sinwar is something that gives him leverage. He uses that to create tension in Israel. He’s a smart guy, he knows Israeli society. He knows what our weak spot is and he uses that to manipulate us. He brings a deal to the table, and then he disappears for 2 days. And then the day after that he comes back with new terms. And he wants us to release more and more terrorists. When he plays with us, we are giving him the leverage. That’s not the way to go."
"The way to go is to pressure Hamas much more. The prisoners of Hamas in our jails need to be pressured. The leaders of Hamas need to feel the pressure and their families need to feel the pressure, their wives, their children should not feel safe. If our children and our families do not feel safe, their families cannot feel safe. We should pressure them more and that’s the only way I believe that will help us win this war and bring back the hostages. Because everything else will only increase the price we have to pay and will lower the chances that we will be able to bring them back,” Tal said.
MK Tal met with the hostages’ families yesterday in the Knesset. “It was hard to hear the stories and meet the families. My heart is with them completely. I know one of these families personally, and I am try to support them and I know how hard it is for them when their son is in Gaza in the hands of Hamas. I told them honestly that when they’re asking us to sign petitions that bringing back hostages is the supreme purpose of the war, no matter what the price is, it makes it so much harder to actually bring them back. It makes it so much harder to win this war. Because Yihhe Sinwar is sitting in his bunker in Gaza and watching Israeli television and he is seeing what is happening here. The fact that we are prepared to pay any price to bring back the hostages, even more important than winning the war. So, he will not give them back. He will take as much time as possible, to weaken us and make us not win this war and we will not win this war. We have to be strong. We have to pressure Hamas much, much more and that is the only way we will be able to bring them back home,” he said.