The Prime Minister's Office has published a scathing attack against Brig. General (res.) Oren Setter, a former member of the negotiating team who resigned in October, accusing him of deliberate leaks from cabinet meetings that damaged the conduct of the negotiations and served Hamas propaganda.
"Setter is lying through his teeth. He has been leaking without cease biased leaks against the Prime Minister from meetings, which have undermined the negotiations, endangered our hostages, and echoed Hamas's false propaganda. His leaks from the meetings are unacceptable and constitute a criminal offense", the Prime Minister's Office said.
The Prime Minister's Office vehemently rejects Setter's claims that an agreement could have been reached earlier: "His claims are devoid of any factual basis. As repeatedly attested by senior US officials, Hamas refused for months to negotiate and was the sole obstacle to a deal."
It is further noted that until the present agreement, Hamas had demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a commitment to end the war without regard to negotiations, while at the outset it was willing to release only 12–14 live hostages.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu insisted on doubling the number of live hostages returning in the first stage, prevented an IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor and the security perimeter, and insisted that Israel not commit itself in advance to ending the war.
''Other members of the negotiating team argued that it would not be possible to reach an agreement if the Prime Minister insisted on these positions – but reality proved otherwise. Thanks to Netanyahu's firm stance, at least half of the living hostages released in Phase A would have remained in Gaza had it not been for his demands", it was claimed.
The Prime Minister's Office emphasizes that his insistence, alongside the threats from US President Donald Trump, led to the defeat of Hamas, the release of the hostages, and the guarantee of Israel's security interests.
"Israel will not allow leaks and lies to undermine the conduct of negotiations for the return of the remaining hostages", the statement concluded.