Why Netanyahu's Vicious 'Poison Machine' Is Now Attacking Israeli Hostage Families
One of the most widely-read posts on Israeli social media this weekend was published by Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan, a former hostage who was released from Hamas captivity as part of the latest Israel-Hamas agreement. Matan was held by Hamas for two years, after being kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. During this period, his mother became the one of the most prominent leaders of the fight to get a comprehensive, war-ending deal in Gaza, in order to secure the release of all the hostages.
Einav Zangauker lives in Ofakim, a town located approximately 15 miles east of the Gaza border, which was itself the target of a large-scale Hamas attack on October 7. Ofakim is known as a stronghold of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, and Zangauker herself identified as a strong supporter of the prime minister before her son's abduction. Over the past two years, however, she emerged as a fearless opponent of Netanyahu's conduct and policies regarding the hostages, consistently challenging him and accusing him of sabotaging the negotiations to bring back her son and the others held by Hamas.
Shortly after Matan's return, influential Netanyahu supporters, mouthpieces and allies began going after his mother, calling on her to disappear from public life now that her son is back home. "Your role in our country's history is over," the head of a pro-Netanyahu organization wrote in a "public letter" addressed to her. A media channel supportive of the prime minister accused her of violently attacking an IDF officer. Anonymous social media accounts that share pro-Likud propaganda began smearing her with unfounded accusations of graft.
The vicious attacks on Zangauker are part of a broader phenomenon. Since the return of the hostages, several hostage families who played a meaningful role in the struggle to bring back their loved ones have been in the crosshairs of the pro-Netanyahu "poison machine" – thousands of social media accounts, some of them verified and many anonymous, who spread pro-Netanyahu messaging, and which often amplify reporting and opinion articles from the media channels in Israel that are slavishly loyal to him. One political reporter known for his close ties to Netanyahu reported right after the deal that the prime minister and his loyalists were planning to "take the gloves off" against some of the hostage families, now that the deal is completed.
The attacks against the families have included a fake "speech" attributed to the father of one of the hostages, in which he supposedly thanked Hamas for kidnapping his son; and an interview in which the brothers of one released hostage attacked his wife for daring to criticize Netanyahu while her husband was held captive. There's more coming, and those being targeted all have one thing in common: they aggressively criticized Netanyahu during the last two years for the suffering of their loved ones, and didn't go out of their way to thank him once the hostage deal had been signed, giving instead most of the credit to U.S. President Donald Trump and his team.
The families, however, seem undeterred by the lies being spread against them. Zangauker led the way again, with a powerful post on Saturday in which she stated that she won't go silent and won't succumb to the threats of the 'poison machine.' She also emphasized the importance of setting up a state commission of inquiry to investigate the failures of October 7. This part of her reply is what Netanyahu truly fears most, and the reason for the entire effort to smear her and the other families. It's all part of a larger effort by the prime minister to shield himself from accountability and erase the failures of that day from Israelis' collective memory, both for his legacy and in time for election day.