On Monday, the families of hostages handed out mishloach manos to members of the Knesset and government ministers. Each package contained a single pita inside a bag, accompanied by a quote from Eli Sharabi, one of the hostages who was freed from captivity under Hamas.
During a discussion in the Knesset, Yotam Cohen addressed Minister Amichai Chikli, explaining the symbolism behind the gesture. “This is a pita, which is about the weekly amount that the hostages get to eat in captivity. There is also a quote from Eli Sharabi that says, ‘Opening a refrigerator is a whole world to us.’ I am delighted to give this to you this as a token of appreciation, for abandoning our hostages in captivity. I hope that every time you open your refrigerator, you’ll remember that my brother is starving in captivity, and that what I’m bringing you now in a nice bag with a yellow ribbon is what the Hamas terrorists give him to eat in a week. I hope that this will make you feel better.”
At that moment, Yehuda Cohen, the father of Nimrod Cohen, turned toward Minister Chikli and made a direct appeal. “Minister Chikli, you can look at us, the father and brother of a kidnapped soldier. Here I am Yehuda Cohen, Nimrod Cohen’s father. My son is talking here.”
Chikli responded firmly, saying, “The moment you compare us to Hamas, the moment you talk like this, you can’t expect respect. There is a limit.”
Cohen immediately pushed back. “So what do you say, I shouldn’t compare you to Hamas? Because your name is Amichai Chikli? The limit is that my son must come back. That’s the limit.”
“You won’t compare me to Hamas,” Chikli shot back.
“I will. You objected to my son being released. How can I explain it? You objected. Did you vote against?” Cohen challenged.
“I am opposed to the release of thousands of murderers,” Chikli stated.
Cohen didn’t hold back. “It’s your problem, you were in this government that abandoned the Gaza border. So what do you say, are you a militant? You’re only in power, but you don’t take responsibility? A government of militants? Take responsibility, you were in this government. You helped put it together by betraying the previous government. So you are a ‘I will not release prisoners’ militant. You, together with the prime minister, will crawl into Gaza to release our prisoners because you are responsible for October 7th. You helped the prime minister strengthen Hamas with dollars from Qatar. You ignored all the warnings before October 7, because you were busy breaking down the judicial system. It was more important for you to secure Netanyahu’s acquittal from his criminal trial.”
Chikli responded with a cynical nod. “We’ve had enough. Thank you very much for caring,” Yehuda Cohen said, bringing his point to a close. Chikli then ended the exchange with a final remark: “We have definitely exhausted this discussion.”
{Matzav.com Israel}The post Pita With Yellow Ribbon: Hostage Families’ Purim Gifts To MKs first appeared on Matzav.com.