Ex-captives slam choice of hostage point man Gal Hirsch to light Independence Day torch

Calling the pick ‘a slap in the face,’ former hostages and their families lash out at Hirsch, who they demanded resign in February for saying the hostage protests benefited Hamas

Former hostages and their family members on Monday criticized the recent selection of Gal Hirsch, the government’s hostage point man, to light a torch at the Independence Day Ceremony on April 21, calling the choice “a slap in the face” to the ex-captives and their loved ones.

Hirsch’s selection for the ceremony comes some two months after he sparked controversy for saying, in a series of interviews, that mass demonstrations on behalf of the hostages had aided Hamas, leading to a group of former hostages and their relatives demanding his resignation.

Yonatan Shamriz, the brother of hostage Alon Shamriz, who was mistakenly killed by IDF forces after managing to escape captivity in Gaza, called it “simply absurd.”

“Instead of being held accountable, instead of facing a state commission of inquiry, he is being given a national stage,” said Shamriz, noting that Hirsch was accused by hostage families of pressuring them not to criticize the government that had abandoned them on October 7.

Lishay Lavi-Miran, whose husband Omri Miran was released from captivity in October 2025, wrote on X: “No rearguard battle over the narrative will change the truth about what happened there — something so many people already know.”

“No torchlighting ceremony will erase the abandonment,” she said.

Ex-captive Rom Braslavski, one of the final 20 living hostages released in October 2025, called the choice of Hirsch “a slap in the face to me, my father, my mother, and all the families of the hostages.”

“The same person who emphasizes how important the hostages are to him, and how much he worked for us, publicly spoke out against hostage families and threatened to sue them several times,” said Braslavski, accusing Hirsch of “just playing politics.”

In February, Hirsch sparked ire from the former captives and their families after saying in several interviews that the hostage protests, which took place weekly and were organized by the families, “amplified” Hamas propaganda in a way that “shocked” him.

Several former hostages, as well as more than 70 relatives of former captives, then signed a letter demanding his resignation, which read: “For two years, Hirsch presented the families with a collection of lies and eye-rolling, threatening, and blackmailing us not to speak out against the prime minister, while holding an official position and a position of power over us and our loved ones who were held captive by Hamas.”

The letter said that Hirsch’s “despicable comments against the struggle of families and against specific families are the continuation of the abuse.”

The letter demanded that Hirsch resign “immediately” as the head of the government’s hostages directorate, and that he leave public office “so that no family will continue to be subjected to psychological abuse and threats by someone who was supposed to protect their loved ones and who is unquestionably tainted by a conflict of interest.”

Hirsch has not resigned from his position despite the demand from the former hostages and their families, and will be given the honor of lighting a torch at the state-run Independence Day ceremony later this month.