Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on Thursday launched a fierce attack against Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, the former head of the Hostages and Missing Persons Headquarters, who claimed on Wednesday that government leaders turned down hostage release deals in the name of “an absolute victory, which I believe is a lie.”

Eliyahu’s criticism of Alon was even harsher than that of journalist Amit Segal, who accused Alon of wanting the government to bow down in “total defeat” to the Hamas terror organization.

In an interview with IDF Radio (Galei Tzahal), after being asked about Alon’s remarks yesterday at Reichman University’s Herzliya Conference, Eliyahu said: “In my view, he needs to ask for forgiveness because he and his ‘concept’ (concepzia) are to blame for people being abducted. Because of Nitzan Alon, people were abducted and murdered.”

Eliyahu was referring to Alon’s former role as a senior IDF commander.

“If we had followed their approach to the end—Hamas would have remained on the (border) fence. If we had withdrawn at the stages he wanted to withdraw and surrender, we would have left Hamas in 70% of the Gaza Strip, we wouldn’t have entered Rafah, and far more civilians would have been murdered. This approach, which allowed terrorists on the fence, is what led to the disaster.”

Minister Eliyahu also addressed his party’s role in the government, saying: “As Otzma Yehudit, we had barely been in the system for a year. We had very little time to even understand how the governing system works and how to move things forward. For 30 years, I warned that the Oslo Accords and the Disengagement would lead to a massacre. The group of people who led this conceptzia are to blame, and most Israeli citizens understand this.”

Eliyahu also spoke to Channel 14, saying, “For three years they have been throwing the blame on us, but we all know that the responsibility lies with the ‘Oslo’ officers. Those people, led by Eisenkot, who claimed that there should be a ‘small and smart army’ and those who preferred to embrace terrorists instead of strengthening the settlements and Zionism. It’s unfathomable for an IDF general to say that we are to blame for the murder of the hostages, when we all know that we said that Hamas must be eliminated. Nitzan Alon, Ehud Barak, and the judicial system – they are to blame!”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)