'They returned in coffins': Families of slain hostages call on Netanyahu to drop election slogan

Families of slain Gaza hostages urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party to stop using the phrase “we brought everyone home” in their election campaign in an open letter published on Tuesday.The families, whose loved ones were killed or murdered in Hamas captivity in Gaza, accused the ruling party of exploiting their deaths for political gain. "Do not use their deaths to ask the public for another term in office. You did not bring our loved ones home. Their bodies returned in coffins," the families wrote."If you have even a drop of humanity left in you, stop using our loved ones for election propaganda," they added.Netanyahu and the Likud have presented the return of the hostages as a major achievement in recent weeks, repeatedly using the phrase “we brought everyone home” as part of their election messaging. The slogan casts the hostages' return as a success for the government, as Netanyahu seeks to defend his government's record ahead of the October 27 election.The phrase has drawn criticism from political opponents and bereaved families, who argue that it overlooks the fact that dozens of hostages taken alive on October 7, 2023, died in captivity and were returned to Israel in coffins. Critics argue that the government cannot portray their return as a political victory without acknowledging the failures that led to their deaths and taking responsibility for them.Netanyahu's supporters, meanwhile, see the return of the hostages as a major achievement. The dispute over the slogan has become part of the broader political debate over the government's handling of the war and its responsibility for the October 7 massacre.Families to Netanyahu: Don't earn political capital off our children's gravesIn their letter, the families also called on Netanyahu and Likud to step aside from public life following the October 7 massacre. They said Netanyahu should "stand up, apologize, take responsibility," and establish a state commission of inquiry into Israel's intelligence and security failures on October 7."If you are incapable of taking responsibility for the deaths of our loved ones, at least do not try to earn political capital out of their graves," the families added.The letter was signed by 28 family members representing 17 families whose loved ones were killed or died in captivity in Gaza. The signatories include released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, whose husband, Oded, was murdered in Hamas captivity.In addition to the letter, the families of the six hostages murdered by Hamas in Rafah in August 2024 launched a billboard campaign featuring the faces of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino, under the slogan “We did not come home.”Nira Sarusi: 'You returned them dead, is that what you are boasting about?'Nira Sarusi, mother of the late Almog Sarusi, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival on October 7 and murdered after 11 months in Gaza, released a video criticizing Likud's messaging.Nira Sarusi, mother of the slain hostage Almog Sarusi, responding to Likud's election claim of 'We returned all the hostages down to the very last one.' (Credit: Almog Sarusi)In the video, she says, "I am here today because of a statement that outrages and deeply pains me: 'We returned all the hostages down to the very last one.' What does 'returned' mean? What are you calling 'returned'? You returned them dead. Is that what you are arrogant about?"She continued, saying, "You should have been proud if you had brought them back alive - because they survived for 11 months. They could have been here alive. But they aren't."The statement you are boasting about is a statement to be ashamed of - to be ashamed that you didn't do everything you needed to do - to bring back alive everyone who was kidnapped alive and returned in coffins. Not all of them returned the way they should have returned." Michal Lobanov: 'I am here to remind you of Alex'"I am here to remind you of Alex, who could have returned alive, but did not return alive," said Michal Lobanov, wife of Alex Lobanov, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival and murdered in captivity.Michal Lobanov, wife of the late Alex Lobanov, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival and murdered in Gaza's tunnels, responding to Likud's election narrative. (Credit: Michal Lobanov)"The faces of our group of six appear on billboards so that everyone will remember them. So that everyone will remember what we missed. And that they did not return to us alive."Alex was working as a bar manager at the Nova festival when he was kidnapped. He was murdered by Hamas in a tunnel in Rafah, leaving behind a wife and two children. While in captivity, he relayed a message, saying, "I left at home a pregnant wife, a two-year-old child, and a pair of sick parents. Help them scream my cry. Do everything so that we get out of here alive."