Rabbi Yehuda Cohen, a member of the Council of Torah Sages of the Shas party, set off a wave of anger after saying, “When yeshiva students are taken captive, this is what delays the release of the hostages in Gaza.”
His comment came at a moment when Israel is confronting the grim truth that just 20 hostages are still alive in Gaza, while the bodies of 30 more are being held. For many, the idea of linking these two situations was beyond comprehension. Families of the hostages, already living with unbearable pain, heard in his words a suggestion that their loved ones’ fate was somehow connected to events that have nothing to do with Hamas’ decision to keep them in captivity.
In the middle of a national crisis, when every effort should be aimed at reuniting families and bringing the dead home for burial, Cohen’s statement is both insulting and completely detached from reality.