Reservists and hostage families condemn Netanyahu’s UN speech plan, calling the mission life-threatening and criticizing its real objective.
Soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip and their parents have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lying about a controversial plan to broadcast his UN General Assembly speech to Gaza residents. The families say the operation put soldiers in danger and was carried out for political purposes.
According to the parents, their children reported that loudspeakers were placed inside the Gaza Strip, despite official claims that they remained on the Israeli side of the border.
“The prime minister is lying,” said a joint statement from the families. “We know from our children in uniform that the loudspeakers were placed inside Gaza. This action endangers their lives, all for the sake of a so-called public diplomacy campaign to preserve his rule.”
The parents accused Netanyahu of using IDF soldiers as political tools. “He is doing PR at the expense of our children’s lives and security. Today we lost the last shred of trust we had in the political echelon and in the army leaders who approved this scandalous operation.”
The incident began after Netanyahu reportedly instructed that loudspeakers be deployed near the Gaza border on Friday evening, so that residents could hear his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The plan was met with backlash from families of soldiers, military sources, and public figures who questioned its necessity and safety.
Parents beg security establishment to halt operation
A group of parents sent a letter to Defense Minister Eyal Zamir urging that the operation be stopped. “This action creates friction with the civilian population and clearly endangers the lives of our soldier children,” the letter said. “Never in the history of the State of Israel has there been such disregard for the lives of fighters.”
The “Awake Mother” group, a network of mothers with sons serving in Gaza, also released a sharply worded response. “Netanyahu, if one soldier is killed in this madness, does that sound reasonable to you?” the group said. “They are not props in your personal campaign. They are human beings, worn down to the bone in a war with no horizon. Once again, you have shown how little their lives matter to you.”
The Prime Minister’s Office denied the allegations, calling the plan a public diplomacy initiative. “The Prime Minister’s Office instructed civilian actors, in coordination with the IDF, to place loudspeakers on trucks located on the Israeli side of the Gaza border,” a statement said. “The prime minister explicitly ordered that this activity must not endanger IDF soldiers.”
Parents of soldiers rejected that response, saying the government was misleading the public. “They are putting on a show for the world, while our children pay the price,” one parent said. “This is not diplomacy, it is political theater.”
In addition, a reservist soldier told i24NEWS that it was “one of the most dangerous missions” of their life, adding that the military did not inform them of “the real objective.”
“They woke us up in the morning for a mission to escort trucks with loudspeakers. We didn’t know the real reason; they just told us it was to move the population. They asked for it to be as close to the civilians as possible,” he said.
“It’s life-threatening. I truly risked my life,” they emphasized.
In protest, the families announced plans to march on Tuesday from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv to Metzudat Ze’ev, the Likud Party headquarters. They described the demonstration as the beginning of a determined struggle for their children’s safety and future.
Netanyahu is expected to use visual aids during his speech, focusing on the October 7 Hamas massacre, in an effort to direct international attention to what Israeli officials describe as “Black Saturday.” Several countries have recently moved toward recognizing a Palestinian state.
According to Walla, the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations has circulated a letter to other member missions calling for a coordinated walkout during Netanyahu’s address.
