Likud candidate says he wishes freed hostage could be sent back to Hamas

Bonzel described Lifshitz’s comments about Netanyahu as “pathetic, outrageous, and disconnected.”

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A Likud candidate for the Knesset said Monday that he wished freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz could be returned to Hamas, responding to her criticism of the Israeli government in a Facebook post.

Itzik Bonzel, who is ranked 29th on the Likud Knesset list, addressed Lifshitz after she criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the hostage crisis in a Channel 13 interview.

“I have never written in this style, but I wish there was a way to turn back the wheel and return you to Hamas,” Bonzel wrote.

Lifshitz was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and released after 17 days in captivity.

In the interview, she said, “Bibi did not return a single abductee; Miriam Adelson bought us from Trump.”

Adelson is an Israeli-American billionaire, philanthropist, and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lifshitz added that if the current government remains in power after the next elections, “it will be a disaster for the country.”

Bonzel’s 22-year-old son, Amir, was killed while fighting in northern Gaza in December 2023.

Since his son’s death, Bonzel has become a prominent figure in the Heroism Forum, which represents bereaved Israeli families.

Responding to Lifshitz, Bonzel accused her of failing to recognize the sacrifices made to secure her release.

“The one who rescued you from the darkness of the Gaza tunnels was not Miriam Adelson, but hundreds of heroes who went out into the inferno to bring you back alive, and some never returned,” he wrote.

“Our sons paid with their lives and the heart’s blood of every home in Israel so that you could sit safely in your home,” he added.

Bonzel described Lifshitz’s comments as “pathetic, outrageous, and disconnected,” and wrote that “hatred for Netanyahu has driven you crazy.”

Lifshitz’s husband, Oded, was also abducted from Nir Oz and was later confirmed to have been murdered in captivity by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Elections are scheduled for October 27.