Daughter of Israeli-American captives slams Biden, world leaders for not demanding the release of the hostages “or else.”
By World Israel News Staff
The daughter of two slain hostages slammed President Joe Biden and other world leaders, saying that president-elect Donald Trump’s recent tweet threatening the Hamas terror group should have served as an example for the international community.
“All world leaders should have done on October 8, 2023, what Trump did in his tweet,” said Iris Weinstein Haggai told the Times of Israel, referencing the president-elect’s pledge that there would be “hell to pay” for Hamas if they do not release the hostages in the near future.
Weinstein Haggai’s parents, Gadi and Judi, held both Israel and American citizenship. The couple were brutally murdered in their Kibbutz Nir Oz home during the October 7th terror onslaught, and their bodies were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.
“Our situation would have been a lot different. We would have saved many lives — not only Israelis, not only hostages’ but also Palestinians — if only world leaders took a stand for the unconditional release of all these hostages,” she told TOI.
She said that her criticism “definitely” applies to Biden, adding that while she appreciated his support for Israel in the immediate aftermath of the massacres, his calls for Hamas to release the hostages were not forceful enough.
“The demand for them to be released ‘or else,’ is what I’m looking for,” Weinstein Haggai said.
Biden and other world leaders’ failure to threaten serious consequences against Hamas for continuing to hold the hostages had drawn out the war and destruction in the Strip, she said.
“When these Hamas terrorists… see that world leaders don’t pressure them… it sends a message to them that they can execute six beautiful young people and there are no consequences, that they can release these propaganda videos and nobody’s going to do anything,” Weinstein Haggai continued.
It’s “never too late” for world leaders to adopt Trump’s stance towards Hamas, she said.