Senior cabinet member revealed the core secret: the leak that killed the hostage deal

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed at a conference at Reichman University that the details of the secret mandate given to the negotiating team for a hostage deal were leaked by a cabinet member who had an interest in the failure of the negotiations. Gallant described a rare consensus in the cabinet that supported the deal, while the Prime Minister opposed but yielded to public concern.

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed at the International Conference on Counter-Terrorism in memory of Shabtai Shavit at Reichman University that the details of the secret mandate given to the negotiating team for a hostage deal were leaked by a cabinet member who had an interest in the failure of the negotiations. Gallant described a rare consensus in the cabinet: the Chief of Staff, Nitzan Alon, the head of the Shin Bet, the head of the Mossad, along with ministers Gantz, Dermer, Eisenkot, Deri, and Gallant himself, all supported the deal. Prime Minister Netanyahu opposed but yielded to public concern. The mandate set a target of 33 living hostages and a stopping line of 18 hostages. According to Gallant, after the discussion, Bezalel Smotrich entered the Prime Minister, and later revealed the number 18 in the cabinet. The leak allowed Hamas to demand all 33 hostages, and the deal collapsed. Gallant called for connecting the dots and concluding who benefited from the leak.