Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in two rounds on Thursday and the following Sunday with families of hostages whose bodies are held in the Gaza Strip, as well as those whose loved ones' bodies have been recovered.
The meetings come after sharp criticism against Netanyahu for his meetings with the four hostages rescued from the Nuseirat refugee camp in Operation Arnon compared to his relative silence to the families of dead hostages whose bodies are being held in the Strip. Sources familiar with the details claimed the meetings were "planned ahead a long time ago" and that they have "no connection to any criticism."
One of the meetings was planned for Tuesday but was postponed for various reasons and at the request of some of the families. The sources point out that Netanyahu has already met with the families in the past. His wife, Sara Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with the mothers of the female IDF lookouts who have requested to talk to her in the past.
The families of dead hostages grew angry at Netanyahu for not contacting them even after receiving news of their loved ones’ fate. Avi Marciano, the father of IDF lookout Noa Marciano, who was kidnapped, murdered in captivity, and whose body was recovered from Gaza, wrote on his Facebook page after the rescue operation, adding a photo of his daughter and a photo of Noa Argamani with her father.
"I look at Yaakov, Noa Argamani's father, and it's impossible not to be moved," he wrote. "I’m genuinely happy for all the families who get to hug their loved ones. And I’m also envious. It highlights how bad our ending was. The prime minister doesn’t arrive when the ending is a bad one. He also doesn't call."
Orit Yablonka, the sister of Hanon Yablonka, whose body was recovered back to Israel from Gaza, told Ynet how she felt after seeing the footage of Netanyahu's meetings with the rescued hostages in the hospital. "The prime minister should be ashamed. Where was he for eight months? He rushes to take credit for the victory, but what about the failures? He only takes credit for successes," she said.
"The prime minister isn’t there for the hostages’ families. I’m very angry; we deserve more. He only thinks about himself and his position. Noa Argamani is a symbol, so it's important for him that the world sees him together with her. He should be ashamed; the people aren’t buying this charade," she added.