American Conservative commentator Mark Levin came to the defense of members of the Israeli government after family members of hostages called on President Donald Trump to push back on "extremists" in the Israeli government who oppose the hostage deal. "There are no extremists in the Netanyahu government. There are conservatives. We all want the hostages out but the demands, as many but not all of the families are from leftwing communities, that the Israeli government capitulate to Hamas or not destroy Hamas and abandon victory, are unacceptable to many Israelis if future mass murders of Israeli citizens are to end. They are now demanding that our government pressure and condemn certain members of the Israeli government as the Biden regime did," Levin wrote in a post on X. He also noted that "the Israelis who oppose the release of thousands of terrorists, especially those whose family members were murdered by these terrorists, do not receive the kind of attention and input they deserve as well. Of course, they want the hostages released. But many are unhappy with this particular deal, originally negotiated by the Biden regime." Levin concluded that the situation is "more complicated than many Americans know because of the way this is reported." Levin's comments follow remarks by family members of several hostages during a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. During her remarks, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held by Hamas, stated: "We are turning to President Trump from here. The extremists in the coalition are threatening to dissolve the government and are demanding the renewal of the war. Don't let that happen! Netanyahu needs to implement the agreement in full and begin negotiations on the second phase now!" Yifat Calderon, the cousin of hostage Ofer Calderon, shared a similar sentiment: "We must not let Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, the extremists who are threatening to bury the hostages, sabotage the agreement! Ending the war and returning everyone is in Israel's interest! We will not stop until they all return!"
