SodaStream founder and former CEO Daniel Birnbaum said on Sunday that he has received dozens of messages from Arabs who wish to share information about hostages.

The messages came after Birnbaum published a video to social media in which he announced that he would personally pay $100,000 in cash or Bitcoin to any Palestinian who helps him free Israeli hostages.

In an interview with Channel 12 he explained what led to the idea: "Like the entire country, I have also been asking myself for the past year what I could do for the families and hostages. After Sinwar's elimination, I thought: 'Oy, what about the hostage? Who can we talk to?' I am used to making lemonade from lemons, I said that I'll bypass the negotiations.

He added: "I will look for those who are holding these hostages and we'll make them an offer they can't refuse. By the way, Netanyahu did most of the work when on Thursday he offered something I never heard: immunity and free passage. He was just missing the monetary incentive and in my opinion, that's an offer that a Hamas member could consider. I know that what we did didn't work, so let's do something else."

Birnbaum recounted: "Yesterday I was swamped with over 50 messages in Arabic, of course, some were fabricated, but some are being looked at by the defense establishment."

He was asked if he was working shoulder-to-shoulder with the government. "Right. We created a 'hotline' for those who want to participate and end this story. This is the first time there's money on the table for the release of the hostages."

Birnbaum was also asked how he ensures that the Gazans receive the money. "I have a reputation and name, I hope that they trust Netanyahu that they'll get free passage. There are good people who want to help, it's good that there's a group of good people who help with this, they create trust."