Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has launched a fierce critique of countries that have moved to recognize a Palestinian state, calling their actions “immoral.” He argued that these diplomatic gestures have been “politically foolish” and have “assassinated the chances to reach a hostage deal” by emboldening Hamas. Sa’ar’s remarks came after the release of disturbing videos of two Israeli hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski.
The minister described Hamas’s release of the videos as a “sadistic propaganda campaign.” He pointed to the apparent starvation and torture of the captives as a “deliberate and well-planned” tactic by the terror group, drawing a chilling comparison to the crimes of the Nazis and ISIS. Sa’ar’s message was that the terror group is using the hostages as pawns in a twisted political game.
Sa’ar also voiced his frustration with the lack of international oversight regarding the remaining hostages. He noted that the Red Cross has not been granted access to the 50 captives, despite an explicit agreement, and he sees this as a failure of the international community. Sa’ar also challenged the prevalent narrative of a starvation crisis in Gaza, calling it a “fake propaganda campaign” that is disproven by the steady flow of aid.
In an effort to rally international support, Sa’ar announced that he is traveling to New York to address a special UN Security Council session he initiated. He plans to use the platform to expose the dangers of hostage-taking as a global phenomenon and to urge the world to take a strong, united stand against it. He concluded his speech by urging the world to reject the “false symmetry” between the innocent hostages and the “murderers” who hold them.
