Right, so Benjamin Netanyahu is another toxic hole all of his own making as it emerges that while he is now currently trying to steal credit from the US, Qatar and Egypt for their negotiations with Hamas that led to the release of the last US hostage held by them, Edan Alexander, the truth is, Netanyahu has been caught apparently having tried to sabotage those release efforts instead, making it more obvious than it ever has been before - and it was already pretty blatantly obvious I think – that Netanyahu is not trying to rescue those hostages from Hamas at all, but that they are his excuse to carry on striking Gaza, the pretence that they are the main goal, but in truth are collateral damage if needs be to achieve the desired aims of his hard right coalition government, which is full annexation and settlement of Gaza, displacing the population as they see fit to, all of which is necessary to Netanyahu to keep himself in power.
But he’s been caught out and if you’re still not on the same page as I am on this, then even someone as cut off from the world as Edan Alexander has been knows Netanyahu is to blame, having called him out whilst in captivity and refusing to meet him once released. Whatever your ambivalence towards Alexander and why he was there and the actions he may have taken, he is not wrong that Netanyahu us to blame for where things are right now and having been caught out deliberately sabotaging efforts he claims to be working night and day towards achieving, Netanyahu’s days in power by right should be justifiably numbered.
Right, so Edan Alexander, the Israeli-American soldier held hostage in Gaza since October 7th, was released by Hamas in a gesture of goodwill following negotiations led by the US, Qatar and Egypt. His return to freedom, whether you welcome the release of an IDF soldier or not, still marked a pivotal moment, because the lead-up to his release has laid bare the truth of Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to getting those Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza and that is that the Israeli government, has not only failed to prioritise the safe return of hostages like Alexander but has actively undermined efforts to secure their release. Worse still, Netanyahu has brazenly sought to claim credit for Alexander's freedom, showing the depths he’ll stoop to for a positive headline, not to mention his brazen hypocrisy. The release was a diplomatic success of backchannel negotiations with Hamas, where Israel remained conspicuously absent – a necessity given everything we now know.
In the hours following the announcement though, Israel returned to type immediately - resuming its brutal bombardment of Gaza, reaffirming its intent to escalate a campaign of devastation that has already killed tens of thousands, including a shocking number of children and demonstrating the hostages, as Edan Alexander has made clear in his actions during and following captivity, mean absolutely nothing to this Israeli administration, except to serve as justification of even more atrocity. Israel is guilty of a complete humanitarian betrayal, excused by hostages having been taken that not only are Israel not trying to rescue, but arguably don’t want to, their plight of political convenience to the Netanyahu regime.
Edan Alexander was born in the United States and later went to Israel under the country’s “lone soldier” program—where young diaspora Jews join the Israeli military despite having no close family in the country and there is absolutely a lot we can unpack and say in regards to that, but having said a lot in other content with regards to my feelings towards those who would choose to serve in the IDF, its not a segue I want to make again here, feel free to in the comments yourself though. At just 19 years old, Alexander became part of the Golani Brigade, one of the most active units in Israel’s military apparatus, but on October 7, during the Hamas incursion into Israel, Alexander was taken captive and held in Gaza.
The response to October 7th should have been a moment for focus, on recovery of hostages, as had gone on numerous times before. Israel held many Palestinians hostage, held in prison without charge, for indeterminate lengths of time, exchanges of prisoners are how things have always been resolved previously, but as we know this isn’t what happened on this occasion and we still need an independent investigation to ascertain why, Israel not allowing for one doesn’t exactly make them look blameless of course, for as much as they blame Hamas for everything that took place on that night and certainly they did make an incursion and they did take hostages. Rather than take the diplomatic route to retrieve hostages through exchanges though, his administration launched what has now been a 19 month long a scorched-earth military campaign, euphemistically termed a "war against Hamas," but which the international community increasingly views as genocide, the Gaza Strip having been razed to the ground, many hostages killed, not to mention more than 52,000 Gazans, mostly women and children, the actual death toll likely several times higher than that.
Alexander’s release was the product of persistent diplomatic pressure and behind-the-scenes negotiations conducted by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. Hamas described the release as a "goodwill gesture" intended to encourage ceasefire negotiations and demonstrate the viability of a diplomatic solution, where more hostages on both sides would hopefully be released.
The handover was facilitated through the International Committee of the Red Cross, who have filled this role for all hostage releases by Hamas thusfar but the Israeli government played absolutely no role in the process whatsoever, the release coming despite Israel’s ongoing aggression, not because of it.
In fact, according to Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who cited a Times of Israel report from back in March on his Twitter account, accompanied by the message ‘tip of the iceberg,’ Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer actively sought to sabotage the negotiations that would have led to Alexander’s much earlier release. Their motive? To avoid the political embarrassment of American hostages being freed through US-Hamas negotiations because this would have exposed Netanyahu’s government for quite obviously not trying to get their hostages out at all.
Yet following Alexander’s release, Netanyahu was very quick to issue statements celebrating the return of the soldier, because in a televised video clip Netanyahu put out in Hebrew, he said:
‘This is a very emotional moment. Edan Alexander has come home. We embrace him, and we embrace his family.
This was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by President Trump.
This is a winning combination. I spoke today with President Trump, he told me: I am committed to Israel, I am committed to continuing to work closely with you to achieve our war objectives; to free all the hostages and to defeat Hamas. These things go hand in hand, they are interconnected.’
A further statement issued read:
‘"The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his assistance in securing the release of Israeli soldier Edan Alexander," said a statement from Netanyahu's team, after meeting in Jerusalem with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.’
It’s an act of stunning hypocrisy to imply Israel had any involvement and it’s a point that Edan Alexander himself has appeared to reject. Alexander has refused point blank to meet with Netanyahu upon his return, thanking Donald Trump instead for playing a role in facilitating his release. This snub speaks volumes about the credibility, or lack thereof, that Netanyahu holds even among those he claims to represent and notably amongst Hamas captives and perhaps increasingly amongst the IDF, particularly as recruitment issues continue to increase.
Moreover, during his captivity, Alexander criticised Netanyahu's leadership and the handling of the Gaza war, especially regarding the government's failure to prioritize hostage recovery efforts, a short excerpt of this published by Quds News Network reading:
‘In a video released by Hamas’s armed wing last November, Alexander harshly criticized Netanyahu. He accused the Israeli leader of abandoning the Israeli prisoners and urged Trump, then President-elect, to secure his release.
“You neglected us,” Alexander said in the footage. “We die a thousand times every day, and no one feels our pain.”’
The most troubling revelation and certainly the most damaging one to Netanyahu though, is what Alexander's release symbolises: that negotiated hostage releases are very much possible. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum—a group representing the families of the October 7 hostages—was quick to highlight this point. In a statement following Alexander’s return, they declared that “the ball is in Netanyahu’s court” to secure additional releases and urged the Israeli government to resume ceasefire negotiations immediately.
But Netanyahu’s actions speak louder than any forum’s pleas. Within hours of Alexander’s release, Israeli forces intensified airstrikes on Gaza yet again, the hostages have never been and never will be a primary concern for Netanyahu. Instead we get reports that Israel remains committed to intensifying its Gaza operations despite Edan Alexander’s release.
This deliberate escalation is not a tactical decision—it is a political one. By collapsing ceasefire negotiations and resuming an all-out assault, Netanyahu is signalling that continued war, not hostage recovery, remains his top priority. This strategy not only risks more civilian lives but further diminishes the already slim chances of retrieving the remaining captives alive. He knows it, we know it, but who’s going to stop him?
Why would any leader undermine the release of their own citizens? Because Netanyahu’s political position matters more than they do. Facing corruption charges and public outrage over the government's failure to prevent the October 7 attacks and increasingly the failure to rescue those hostages and doing what is obvious to get them back, Netanyahu has weaponised the war in Gaza to shore up his coalition government and keep the hard right of it happy. A ceasefire—especially one negotiated without Israeli input—would rob him of the narrative of military redemption and expose the futility of the destruction he has unleashed.
Furthermore, Alexander’s release via US diplomacy lays bare the faltering alliance between Washington and Tel Aviv despite Netanyahu’s claims that he and Trump are still speaking and still tight. It was not the Israeli government but the US, that succeeded in negotiating with Hamas. This move—going behind Israel’s back—implies fractures in what was once a seemingly unshakable relationship. Trump’s involvement and apparent success only deepened Netanyahu’s political embarrassment.
His embarrassment is getting measured in lives though.
Since October 7, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Entire neighbourhoods have been flattened, hospitals bombed, and aid convoys turned away or attacked. It’s genocide and it just continues regardless of captives, regardless of innocent civilians.
Even as Alexander was being transferred into Red Cross custody, Israeli jets flew missions over Rafah, so the message from israel is clear that no amount of hostage releases, goodwill gestures, and humanitarian overtures will deter Israel from its apocalyptic war path in Gaza.
The release of Edan Alexander reveals that diplomacy works—that hostages can be released without bloodshed, but that Netanyahu has chosen blood to keep himself in power and the number of lives that is being measured in now is horrifying. It also reveals that Israel’s leaders, particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, are willing to sabotage those diplomatic efforts to serve personal and political agendas.
Edan Alexander is home today not because of Benjamin Netanyahu, but in spite of him. 58 hostages remain in Gaza, thousands of Palestinian captives remain in Israeli detention. All should be freed. Alexander’s refusal to meet Netanyahu, his past criticisms of the Israeli government, and the public revelation of Netanyahu’s efforts to block his release all paint a damning portrait of a leader who has lost his moral compass.
Meanwhile, Gaza burns. Hostages remain in captivity. And a path to peace continues to be bulldozed with every building levelled across Gaza.
Meanwhile, there are those who are taking it to Israel and hitting them where it hurts most right now, in the economy. BDS has just clobbered Israel like a ton of bricks as 1 million Norwegians have just voted to block Israel and their government may soon follow suit. Get all the details of that story in this video recommendation as your suggested next watch.
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