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Ex-Mossad official rebuts Nitzan Alon's claim that government rejected hostage deals

The Zioneer Intelligence Desk
Ex-Mossad official rebuts Nitzan Alon's claim that government rejected hostage deals

Primary source Internal intake · 1 reviewed intake signal · Desk window 00:05

TL;DR

Eyal Tzir Cohen, former senior Mossad official and head of the Israeli delegation to Qatar for hostage negotiations, said he never witnessed a good deal being rejected during his time on the team, contradicting outgoing hostages chief Nitzan Alon's assertion that the political echelon refused earlier and more comprehensive agreements.

01 · THE DISPATCH

Former Mossad official Eyal Tzir Cohen pushed back against outgoing hostages chief Nitzan Alon's claims that the Israeli government rejected earlier and more comprehensive hostage deals. Cohen, who led the Israeli delegation to Qatar for hostage negotiations, told Kan that 'this is not the reality I knew' and that during his tenure he did not see a good deal that was turned down. The remarks add a new dimension to the public debate over the government's handling of hostage negotiations, following Alon's sharp criticism of the political echelon in an interview with Amit Segal (N12) earlier this week. Alon had stated that the government refused deals in the name of 'total victory,' which he called a falsehood. Cohen's account suggests that the negotiation team did not encounter such a scenario during his time.

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