Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, who served as Israel’s coordinator for prisoners and missing persons gave his first in-depth interview since the return of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, H’yd.

After revealing that Hamas leader leader Yahya Sinwar intended to hold the hostages as bargaining chips for as long as a decade, Hirsch said that Hamas took advantage of the left-wing protests in Israel for the return of the hostages.

“For Hamas,” Hirsch said, “the public protests were a tool—part of their strategic arsenal. They monitored gatherings and social media activity, recognizing the protests as something they could exploit.”

He described how Hamas recycled Israeli protest slogans for its propaganda videos. “Every Shabbos afternoon, they’d release clips featuring phrases like ‘Time is running out’ or ‘They will only return in a deal.’ These weren’t Hamas originals—they took them directly from here and used them to rally their supporters.”

Responding to criticism that the government didn’t do enough to secure the hostages’ release, Hirsch said much of the backlash was politically motivated and personally malicious. “Many of the attacks came from people who weren’t part of the families — personal or political attacks that had nothing to do with the facts,” he said. “The hatred during that time crossed every line. I’ve seen a lot in my life, but this was beyond anything I’d imagined—including death threats against my wife daughters.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)