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Former Mossad chief says Netanyahu chooses ‘revenge’ over captives: Report

A former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service has accused Netanyahu’s government of prioritizing revenge over the lives of Israeli captives still held in Gaza, according to a report.

Tamir Pardo, a director of Mossad between 2011 and 2016, said the government should have accepted Hamas’s offer for a prisoner swap on October 8, 2023.

  • “Israel, however, chose revenge. It knew that the captives could not all be freed through a military offensive,” Pardo said in an interview with Israeli news outlet Srugim, adding that Israel was aware that captives would be killed in ongoing attacks on Gaza.
  • “However, the government was not bothered … Instead of pursuing revenge, the government should have reached a deal to secure the captives’ release first and then pursued military objectives,” the former chief told the outlet.

Source: Al Jazeera