At Netanyahu speech, most hostage relatives didn’t stand because they can’t anymore
WASHINGTON — It was a line that brought just about everyone in the US House of Representatives chamber to their feet on Wednesday.
“I will not rest until all their loved ones are home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in his speech to a joint session of Congress.
Referring to the Hamas captives held in Gaza, he made the pledge just after highlighting the families of the American hostages in the audience.
While almost everyone stood and applauded, most of the roughly one dozen relatives of the eight US citizens being held in Gaza remained in their gallery seats directly across from Netanyahu. They stared stoically and uncomfortably, seeming utterly unconvinced by the premier’s words.
“There is a bit of a disconnect,” said Omer Neutra’s father Ronen as he recalled the moment in an interview with The Times of Israel.