Hostage families, including released Noa Argamani, set to accompany Netanyahu on US trip

Other families reject invitation, call on other families to boycott PM’s trip

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Several family members of Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, as well as former hostages, including Noa Argamani, are set to accompany Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his state visit to Washington, D.C. next week, Ynet News reported on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister’s Office invited several hostage family members to attend his long-awaited speech at the U.S. Congress on July 24. The group will include representatives of different sectors of society, like soldiers, residents of the Gaza envelope and the north, survivors of Oct.7, as well as representatives of non-Jewish communities in Israel.

Additionally, family members of Israelis kidnapped before Oct. 7, such as the families of Hisham al-Sayed and Oron Shaul, who were abducted during the last Gaza War in 2014, received an invitation.

The invitation highlights growing differences among the hostage families, as several of them declined to join Netanyahu, who they see as responsible for not securing a hostage deal to free the remaining Israelis from captivity.

Other families of hostages and fallen, like Noa Argamani and her father Yaakov, Ditza Or, the mother of Avinathan Or, Ayelet Samarno, the mother of the late Yonatan Samarno, and Tali Gavili, the mother of the late Border Police fighter Ran Gavili, accepted the invitation.

Sasha Ariev, the sister of the kidnapped IDF field observer Karina Ariev, is still debating whether to go. “I want to see progress,” she told Ynet News. “Until I understand that there are contacts for a deal, I won’t be able to fly with peace of mind.”

Netanyahu’s trip to Washington comes during an intense period of negotiations over a hostage deal with Hamas.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum put out a statement criticizing the trip, saying, “We need the prime minister here, available, with all his energy being put forth to bring the hostages home, using all his power in the most important place for the people of Israel at this time.”

Some family members especially called out Argamani, one of the most popular and well-known hostages, to not join Netanyahu’s delegation, arguing he was using her to legitimize himself in the wake of the Oct. 7 disaster.

Maayan Sherman, the mother of fallen IDF soldier Ron Sherman, whose body was recovered in December from the Gaza Strip, wrote on Facebook: “Beloved Noa, he’s using you. And others will pay for this with their lives. Explain this to your father. Don’t fly with him as a decoration [for Netanyahu].”

Ifat Kalderon, a cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon, wrote on 𝕏: “Make someone explain to beloved Noa Argamani that he’s using her. She was kidnapped once by Hamas and a second time by him.”

Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik is being held hostage, is traveling to Washington privately to protest against Netanyahu there.

He wrote to Argamani: “Traveling with Bibi [Netanyahu] means acknowledging that he isn’t responsible for the October 7 disaster, and he’s actually using you to prove that. As a family member of a hostage, I’m happy you managed to be rescued from there. I expect you to work for the release of the rest of the hostages or to not be an obstacle. Unfortunately, in my opinion, joining the prime minister’s trip hurts the chances of bringing home the rest.”