A senior government official, who will support the emerging hostage deal, expressed deep concern about the implications of the emerging agreement in a conversation with Channel 14 News on Monday evening.
He claims that it was a step taken "blindly" and without certainty regarding the situation of the hostages. According to him, Hamas did not provide clear answers about the situation of the 33 hostages held by it, which led to a stalemate in the negotiations for weeks.
"What happened was that the American envoy Whitkoff conveyed to Prime Minister Netanyahu a strong message from the president-designate of the United States, Donald Trump, who unequivocally demanded the completion of the deal," the official said.
The official also stressed that the emerging agreement is very reminiscent of the Goldwasser-Regev deal, in which Israel acted without knowing with certainty the situation of the hostages. "The chilling sentence of a senior Hezbollah official at the time, 'Now he will reveal what happened to them,' resonates even today. We just don't know in what condition the hostages will arrive," he said.
At the same time, the official expressed confidence that the prime minister has broad considerations and would not compromise on national security: "I believe that Netanyahu will not collapse just for nothing. I hope that there will be a significant return in this deal – perhaps on the Iranian issue, agreements with Saudi Arabia or some other commitment from the Americans."
* Channel 14 contributed to this article.
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