Former Israeli hostage Wenkert calls for cabinet invite to witness 'the tears in our eyes'

In the week leading up to the biblical feast of Passover, which celebrates freedom and deliverance, thousands of people gathered on Saturday night to continue their protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The weekly dissent was highlighted by several recently released hostages and their families. 

With 59 hostages remaining under Hamas control in Gaza, those formerly held in the deplorable conditions of Gaza reminded those in attendance that Israel cannot fully celebrate freedom while there are still captives.

Former hostages Liri Albag, Omer Wenkert and Gadi Mozes all criticized the renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas, expressing concern that it puts the remaining hostages’ lives at greater risk.

The protest began within a few hours of Hamas releasing a propaganda video featuring hostages Maxim Herkin and Bar Kupershtein. This marked the first evidence of life from either captive since their abduction nearly 550 days ago, on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack that triggered the war. The families of Herkin and Kupershtein requested that the videos not be shared on mainstream media, with Israeli authorities describing them "deplorable psychological warfare."

When former surveillance soldier and released hostage Albag took to the stage, she told the crowd, “Whenever the Air Force strikes, [the hostages] are the first to pay the price.”

After the collapse of the first ceasefire-hostage deal in November 2023, “I also collapsed,” said Albag. “I remember that moment – one moment where everything that kept us going shattered.”

“This week is Passover – the festival of freedom. But what kind of freedom is it when 59 people are still in Hamas hell?” she said. “I remember Passover there – a sad holiday. We were depressed. We were enslaved.”

Mozes, an 80-year-old farmer from Kibbutz Nir Oz who was abducted by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group and released in January, called on the government to “end the war, withdraw the military from the Strip, and carry out the second stage of the deal that Israel signed,” though refused to negotiate during the 42-day first phase that ended on March 2.

“We have no time. The earth is burning under our feet,” Mozes stated. “The assumption that killing people will make Hamas understand that they need to release hostages is fundamentally wrong. They aren’t interested in human life or property. They hold a bargaining chip and want to get the most out of it.”

Mozes shared that the sounds of war still “echo in his ears” and that those being held in Gaza lose hope when they hear the sound of the rockets landing all around them. “Those rockets have killed and can kill our defenseless brothers,” he said, referencing the 24 hostages thought to still be alive – most of them young men.

Wenkert, who was released from Hamas captivity in February, also spoke at Hostages Square, urging the government to invite him to a cabinet meeting, “and look at my testimony in the eyes.”

“In captivity, I was held in a tunnel under extreme conditions. Next to me was a pit,” that served as a toilet, he said. “For 505 days, I was starved, humiliated, beaten. Out of these, I was held alone for 197 days and almost lost my mind.”

“I’m not really here. Only half of me is standing here,” Wenkert continued. “Part of us, part of all of us, is still captive in Gaza.”

“Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s on you to get them back,” he said. “I turn to you, leaders of the country, and reiterate: don’t look away. Look at us. See the tears in our eyes.”

Referring to Passover, Wenkert shared, “The word ‘freedom’ sounds big, sublime, but it’s simple – being with family; waking up in the morning with a peaceful heart. Knowing you’re free to dream, hug, love, laugh, cry without fear.”

The Times of Israel reported that prior to the start of the anti-government protest, “around 1,000 people gathered for a protest at Habima Square, where Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz accused Netanyahu of lying about Qatar amid the investigation into the alleged illicit connections between the prime minister’s senior aides and the Hamas-supporting Gulf nation.”

In quoting a video statement that Netanyahu publicized earlier this week, Segalovitz argued, “All of a sudden, Qatar has become a ‘complex country.’ A country that deals with terrorism, where Hamas people reside permanently, is suddenly a ‘complex country.'”

Segalovitz went on to say that Netanyahu has a “mark of Cain mark on his forehead” for failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack and for “whitewashing” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and for introducing “conspiratorial terms such as ‘deep state’ into public discourse.”

Segalovitz criticized Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary over the weekend.

“Netanyahu gets his picture taken by the Danube,” he said, referring to a photo of the prime minister at a Holocaust memorial in Budapest. “He has yet to come to Nir Oz,” Segalovitz added, referring to the southern kibbutz that was destroyed in the October 2023 attack.

The protest also included a speech by Israel's former foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who listed several grievances against Netanyahu, including the "violent rampages of killing and destruction by Jews against Arabs in Judea and Samaria," in a rare public acknowledgment of settler violence in the West Bank.

During the anti-government protest near the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv, Merav Svirsky, whose brother Itay Svirsky was killed while held hostage, addressed the crowd of thousands.

She shared her deep anguish, stating, “It’s insane and insufferable, and painful to the spirit and soul and body, that I paid the dearest price because of this government of destruction and the prime minister.”

Svirsky called for an end to the cycle of violence. “Enough of all this unnecessary death. Instead of destructive revenge, we must go back to sanctifying life.”