\nFamily members of slain hostages spoke of the lack of government support and emotional struggle at Knesset panel. April 19, 2026. (credit: Knesset Press Office)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
‘Hamas held my son as a bargaining chip’<\/h3>\n Rachel Tzarfati, mother of the late Ofir Tzarfati, told the panel that she received her son\u2019s remains in three different segments and was forced, as a result, to carry out three burials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe buried him three times and received three pathological reports. The third time, I wanted to be buried next to him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHamas held my son as a bargaining chip. The state didn\u2019t bother to tell me I would receive my son in stages and have to bury him in parts. There is no rehearsal for a mother who has to cope with the loss of a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yaron Cohen, head of the Directorate for Hostages, Missing and Returnees, told the panel that, \u201cThere may be a feeling that the event is over, but in some ways we understand that it is only the beginning.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are families who were exposed for a long time to unbearable events and continuous psychological terror.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Cohen explained different benefits provided to hostage families, Illouz responded that the financial support was not enough to support the families after what they had undergone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Directorate told everyone we receive financial and legal support, but I cannot live on 7,000 shekels,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cohen also pointed out that those who were not in the communities bordering Gaza on the morning of October 7 are still not recognized as victims of terror because they were not physically present during the attacks.<\/p>\n
‘We failed to bring the hostages home’<\/h3>\n Lawmakers attended the panel as well, where MK Shelly Tal Meron (Yesh Atid) said she felt \u201ca deep moral failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe failed to bring them home fast enough, and now we are failing to provide support to the families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
MK Simon Davidson (Yesh Atid) said that what the government was doing was not nearly enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will do everything to ease the economic burden on these families, but also to preserve the memory and not forget the fallen. There are families experiencing a kind of pain that cannot be understood,” he said.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the October Council, which represents bereaved family members and victims of October 7, stood outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s residence in protest, as well as outside of the homes of other ministers and officials ahead of Remembrance Day.<\/p>\n
They called for a state commission of inquiry to be conducted into government failures on October 7.<\/p>\n
Bereaved family members stood outside the homes of Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Development of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.<\/p>\n
Sigal Yehudai, the mother of Ron Yehudai, who was murdered by Hamas at the Supernova music festival, stood outside the home of Ohana and said that she has been trying to survive with two children still at home.<\/p>\n
“What are you doing? Continuing to abandon us as if nothing had happened. My children lost their brother’s life. We will not be silent until a state commission of inquiry is established,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
A state commission of inquiry is considered the most authoritative and independent investigative system under Israeli law. It operates entirely outside the political echelon.<\/p>\n
Amid the ongoing rift between the government and the judiciary, Netanyahu has repeatedly opposed judicial authorities leading the investigation. The government has instead been advancing a controversial bill that would establish a new investigative mechanism, provoking outrage among bereaved family members and claims of a conflict of interest in the investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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