Far-right lawmaker Simcha Rothman on Monday drew a fierce backlash from family members of captives held in Gaza after saying that Israeli media outlets made a “grave mistake” by airing terror groups’ videos of suffering Israeli hostages.
Later in the day, Likud MK Tally Gotliv also sparked criticism for saying that people urging the government to do more to free hostages should “be quiet.”
Rothman, an MK for the Religious Zionism party, made the comments after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad posted propaganda videos last week of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, respectively, both of whom appeared severely emaciated. The videos were met with shock in Israel and beyond.
“It’s a grave mistake to watch the videos of the hostages, and it’s a grave mistake to publish them,” Rothman, who chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, told Haredi radio station Kol Berama. “Even without watching the videos, I know that they are Hamas propaganda.”
Describing the videos as a “psychological missile,” Rothman said Israel already knows that the hostages’ condition is “difficult,” and argued there was therefore no reason to watch the footage.
“These videos aim to demoralize and harm us,” he said in the radio interview. “That’s why I’m confused by everyone who watches them and everyone who broadcasts them.”
Hostage Rom Braslavski, in a still from a propaganda video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, July 31, 2025. (Screenshot)
The videos were made public at the request of the families of Braslavski and David, who wished to raise awareness of their loved ones’ plight and keep them in the public eye. Israeli media outlets only carry such videos, or portions of them, with the express permission of their families, and some relatives do not let media outlets publish the footage.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization representing most captives’ families, accused Rothman of being “blind to what is happening” and “proving your callousness and that of the government you are a member of.”
“Unlike you, choosing to shut your eyes and ignore it, the people of Israel looked Evyatar [David] and Rom [Braslavski] in the eye, and the vast majority of them demand the return of all 50 hostages and an end to the fighting,” the Forum continued, demanding that the lawmaker “be ashamed and apologize.”
“The attempt to forget October 7 and the hostages will not succeed,” it vowed, referring to the date of the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel in 2023, during which the hostages were abducted and 1,200 people were killed. “The people see, the people remember, and the people will bring home the hostages.”
Ruby Chen — whose son Itai was killed by terrorists during the attack who abducted his body to Gaza — said Rothman was living in a “parallel universe” and didn’t want to be reminded that he is “collectively responsible” for the disaster of the Hamas attack, Ynet reported.
Also on Monday, chaos erupted at the Knesset House Committee as Gotliv said critics of the government’s approach to the hostages should “be quiet.”
Gotliv’s comments came during a turbulent hearing in which lawmakers, relatives of hostages and bereaved family members clashed with each other. At the hearing, activist Israel Shor, whose brother was killed in an IDF raid on Lebanon in 1973 and who has been campaigning with hostages’ families, accused the government of “holding the hostages captive.”
“I don’t have a good word to say about the Hamas murderers. They are bloodthirsty predators,” Shor said. But he added, “The one holding the hostages captive is the Israeli government. Our hostages are being held as captives by the Israeli government. The Israeli government has the power to free the hostages.”
That statement prompted a shouting match, during which Gotliv said, “If Hamas hears what you’re saying, it won’t release hostages.”
When Shor asked her to clarify if she meant they should keep quiet, she responded, “Yes, keep quiet. Completely quiet.”
MK Tally Gotliv attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, on July 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The opposition Democrats party said in a statement posted to X: “The coalition hates the hostages, hates their families. That’s the bitter truth. Shame on you, Tali Gotliv.”
At one point, Braslavski’s cousin, Adam Hajaj, addressed the committee but was interrupted by bereaved family members who screamed about soldiers killed trying to rescue hostages.
“Let me speak, I’m not against you. I didn’t come to ask for much,” said Hajaj. “I came for you to get to know Rom, who you’ll see in the video.”
He added: “The families of the hostages, the families of the bereaved are one people. For those who didn’t understand this, I’m here to say it.”
Tzvika Mor, father of hostage Eitan Mor and a member of the Tikvah Forum, a group of bereaved families opposed to a ceasefire deal, said: “Why are you emotionally manipulating us? Hamas will never release my son. [Military] pressure will bring a deal.”
A still of hostage Evyatar David taken from a Hamas propaganda video (left) released on August 1, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Family members of hostages have kept up a constant presence at Knesset committee hearings where they strive to keep the suffering of their loved ones in the public eye and on the government’s agenda. They are usually granted time to speak, though sometimes the sessions become heated as they clash with coalition lawmakers.
Rothman, who has repeatedly had altercations with hostages’ families, in November of last year refused to allow two relatives of hostages to play recordings of their loved ones during a meeting of his Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Rothman claimed that the playing of any recordings had to be coordinated ahead of time.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted in the October 7 attack. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
