Cousin of Hostage in Knesset: Every Passing Day, They Go From Hostages to Being Counted as Fatalities

By Aryeh Stern

​At the start of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting on Monday, family members of the hostages being held in Gaza addressed the committee. Committee Chair MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) said to them, on behalf of the committee members, “Our heart is with you.”

Udi Goren, the cousin of hostage Tal Chaimi, said, “Every day that passes, they go from being counted as hostages to being counted as fatalities. We don’t know what to do at this point. We were told that military pressure would bring back the hostages, but that idea has failed completely. We can’t understand the abandonment of the hostages, you’re forsaking them to continue to undergo abuse, and the question is, when we bring them back — what will we be bringing back? Will they be able to lead a normal life, to be functioning citizens of the State of Israel? There are tens of thousands of Hamas members, will we not bring back the hostages until we kill the last of them?

“I didn’t elect [Yahya] Sinwar, I elected my government, in my state, and I intend to stay here. To be a beneficial citizen whose children will go to the army and know with certainty that no government will forsake them to die.”

Esther Buchshtav, mother of hostage Yagev Buchshtav, said, “I come here every week. My son was kidnapped from his house, the house in which we raised him, our safe spot. The sense we had of being forsaken, the despair and loneliness, the understanding that we’re on our own, is difficult. I try to speak about how to bring back the hostages, and I set aside the trauma of October 7. I’m not sure that what I knew about Yagev until now is true. I’m afraid of the days and the nights, I think about what he’s going through. […] How is it possible that they’re still there? Oded Lifshitz is 85 years old, how is it possible that he’s still there? These people founded the state; they lived right near the fence. We want to return there. They have to be brought back. I never imagined that we would reach January [without their return]. I hope we won’t mark his 35th birthday in captivity.”

Vered Ansbacher, sister of the late Maj. Yehuda Cohen who fell in Gaza, said, “Yehuda fell in a difficult battle, and along with two of his friends saved the members of the company. He sustained a critical injury, and called in the troops. I have come to offer strength on behalf of the Heroism Forum. There was something very straitlaced about Yehuda, people laughed at him for placing trust in the commanders and in the government, but at the same time, he knew how to point out when something wasn’t completely right. Since he was killed I have been trying to follow in his footsteps, and I have come here with a demand on behalf of all the families of the forum not to turn back. We feel that the warfare has weakened, and we must not stop in the middle. We can’t go back with our tail between our legs. We have to control the Gaza Strip, and that will be the victory image. There is a strong home front here. At the end of the shivah, my husband returned for a month to fight in Gaza and I remained with four small children. I send him lovingly, because we have a mission. We can’t turn back until we can say that we have eradicated the evil and won. My brother said that one of the IDF’s important values is not to return until you perform the mission. We are asking to wake up and not to turn back.”