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Remarks at the government meeting for the approval of the hostages release framework

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

Type: Media Statements
Government: The 37th Government
Publish Date: 10.10.2025

The remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the government meeting for the approval of the hostages release framework, together with President Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and with the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"We are at a momentous development. In the last two years, we've fought during these two years to achieve our war aims. And a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages. All of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we're about to achieve that. We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with Ron and his team, our team. That, and the courage of our soldiers who entered Gaza, had a combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas. I believe these brought us to this point. I want to personally thank both of you, Steve, Jared. It's been long hours. You worked around the clock, but not only worked - I think you put in your brains and your hearts. We know that it's for the benefit of Israel and the United States, for the benefit of decent people everywhere. And for the benefit of these families who will finally get to be with their loved ones. And I want to thank you on their behalf, as well as on behalf of the people of Israel. Thank you".

Jared Kushner:

"Obviously, bringing the hostages home has been a priority for President Trump for a very, very long time, and we've all worked very tirelessly to do that. But I really want to say that this all would not have been possible without the bravery of the IDF and the soldiers, what they've accomplished not just in Gaza, but also what they've done in the theater over the last couple of years to eliminate Hezbollah in the north and really degrade them, what you were able to do in Iran. It really helped set a big tone. But particularly seeing the way that your citizen army... I know a lot of you, probably all of you have family, friends who were in this effort, really put your sacrifices on the line to fight for your country and to try and make a difference. I think that made a very, very big difference in there. And I want to just give a very, very special thanks to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who really did an incredible job with this and did a great job with the negotiations. You held your lines firm. And I think that between you and President Trump, you had a lot of alignment on what the end state should be".

:Special Envoy Steve Witkoff

"The hard job was the Prime Minister's. He had the job of protecting this country. He had the job of making tough choices with regard to how tough to be with Hamas, when to be flexible, when not to be flexible. I think to myself all the time, I lost sleep over it, what would I have done in some of those circumstances? There were times that I thought we should be more flexible or your country should be more flexible. But the truth is, as I look back, I don't think we'd get to this place without Prime Minister Netanyahu playing it out. Thank you. And I'm not just saying that. They're not just words. The president believes that. My president believes it. He believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu made some very, very difficult calls. And lesser people would not have made those calls. And here we are today because Hamas had to. They had to do this deal. The pressure was on them. They were backed up. And you've got the bigger army. You were making inroads. And that's what led to this deal".