>>> AS ISRAELI TANKS MOVE INTO RAFAH A DAY AFTER CEASE FIRE AND HOSTAGE RETURN DEAL FELL APART, THE PRIME MINISTER IS TAKING HITS IN ISRAELI HEADLINES. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYS THE OFFER WAS AN ATTEMPT TO SABOTAGE A RAFAH OFFENSIVE. CRITICS ARGUE HE ACTUALLY TORPEDOED THE DEAL. IN A RECENT TEL AVIV PROTEST BY FAMILIES FOR THE RELEASE OF HOSTAGES, ONE SIGN READS, NO TO RAFAH, YES TO A DEAL NOW. JOINING ME NOW IS JONATHAN, WHOSE SON, AN AMERICAN ISRAELI IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. FIRST, WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE REJECTION OF THAT DEAL? >> WELL, I'M NOT SURE THAT THE WAY YOU'RE PRESENTING IT IS THAT ACCURATE. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT WE WERE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WHEN OUR GOVERNMENT, OUR CABINET, SENT ISRAELI NEGOTIATORS BACK TO CAIRO, AND THAT IN AND OF ITSELF TELLS US THOUGH THESE AREN'T THE SENIOR NEGOTIATORS, THE MORE WORKING GROUP LEVEL, SHOWS US THERE IS A WILLINGNESS, WHATEVER THE RHETORIC COMING OUT OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE, THERE IS A WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATING, AND IT WAS REALLY ONLY ONE WAY TO COMPLETE A NEGOTIATION, AND THAT IS TO SIT AT THE TABLE, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE NO DIRECT TALKS WITH HAMAS, TO SIT AT A TABLE AND TO FINISH THEM. SO AS LONG AS THERE IS COMMUNICATION STILL GOING ON, I THINK IT'S A LITTLE PREMATURE TO DECLARE THIS LATEST ATTEMPT TO STRIKE A DEAL AS OVER. >> WELL, YOU ARE CORRECT IN THAT THE ISRAELI NEGOTIATING TEAM IS STAYING IN EGYPT FOR FURTHER TALKS AFTER CIA DIRECTOR BILL BURNS MET TODAY WITH BENJAMIN NETANYAHU TO DISCUSS THIS PUSH FOR A HOSTAGE RELEASE, A CEASE FIRE DEAL. SO WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THEM, AND DO YOU THINK THE U.S. IS DOING ENOUGH? >> WELL, I HAVE NO DOUBT, AND I THINK I CAN SPEAK HERE FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE EIGHT U.S. HOSTAGES STILL BEING HELD BY HAMAS THAT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS HORRIFIC SAGA IN THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER, WE HAVE HAD NO DOUBT THAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS TOTALLY COMMITTED TO GETTING ALL OF THE HOSTAGES HOME, NOT JUST THE U.S. CITIZENS BUT ALL NOW 132 HOSTAGES, AND GETTING THEM BACK HOME TO ISRAEL. AND SO, I MEAN, THE PROOF IS THE PUDDING AND CIA DIRECTOR BILL BURNS HAS BEEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR MUCH OF THE TIME BETWEEN OCTOBER 7th AND TODAY. VARIOUS OTHER SENIOR ADMINISTRATION, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN SHUTTLING AROUND THE AREA. SO I THINK THEY'RE TOTALLY SERIOUS WITH WANTING TO GET A DEAL DONE, BOTH FOR THE HOSTAGES THEMSELVES, AND ALSO FOR THE GOOD OF THE REGION AND THE PEOPLE OF GAZA BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY THE FIGHTING STOPS, AND WE'VE KNOWN THIS FROM THE GET GO, THE ONLY WAY THE FIGHTING CAN STOP AND THE KILLING CAN STOP IS BOY THESE HOSTAGES BEING RELEASED. IN A PERFECT WORLD, HAMAS WOULD HAVE DONE THAT LONG AGO, THAT HASN'T HAPPENED, NOR IS IT GOING TO HAPPEN. THIS IS THE ROUTE THAT WE HAVE, CONTINUING NEGOTIATIONS WITH A HORRIFIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, BUT THAT'S WHO'S ON THE OTHER SIDE. >> WE'RE ALMOST OUT OF TIME. I WANT TO ASK YOU, FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE EITHER MOVED ON OR JUST HAVEN'T BEEN PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS STORY AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS YOUR LIVED EXPERIENCE FOR MORE THAN 200 DAYS, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT THIS MUST BE LIKE FOR YOUR SON AND THE OTHER HOSTAGES, WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LOVE THEM. >> WELL, IT'S A LIVING HELL, QUITE HONESTLY. FOR THE LAST -- FOR THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS, WE HAVE NOT KNOWN WHETHER OUR LOVED ONES ARE ALIVE OR DEAD. HAMAS HAS NOT ALLOWED ANY OUTSIDE VISITS WHATSOEVER. WE DO KNOW FROM THE RELEASED HOSTAGES THAT CAME OUT IN LATE NOVEMBER, EARLY DECEMBER, THAT CONDITIONS ARE DEADLY, IN FACT, AND CONTINUE FIGHTING ABOVEGROUND CERTAINLY DOES NOT HELP IN TERMS OF THE SAFETY OF THE HOSTAGES WHO ARE BEING HELD IN HAMAS TERROR TUNNELS. I WOULD WANT THE WORLD TO REMEMBER, CERTAINLY YOUR VIEWERS IN THE UNITED STATES, THAT 45 AMERICANS WERE MURDERED BY HAMAS IN THE ATTACK ON OCTOBER 7th. 12 U.S. CITIZENS WERE TAKEN HOSTAGE. 8 REMAIN. 5 LIVING AND 3, UNFORTUNATELY, DECEASED, MURDERED ON OCTOBER 7th. AND THIS IS AN AMERICAN ISSUE. THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL ISSUE. THERE ARE CITIZENS OF 20 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES BEING HELD BY HAMAS, RIPPED FROM THEIR HOMES, RIPPED FROM AN OUTDOOR CONCERT. AND IF HAMAS IS ALLOWED TO SUCCEED, ONE CAN HAVE THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT ISRAEL'S CONDUCT OF THE WAR, AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S BEEN A TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE ON THE PALESTINIAN SIDE, BUT IF HAMAS, A RADICAL ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST TERROR GROUP IS ALLOWED TO SUCCEED, MEANING IT DOES NOT SURRENDER THE HOSTAGES OR THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, DIE IN HAMAS CUSTODY, THAT'S A VERY BAD SIGN FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND I FEAR NOT JUST FOR ISRAEL BUT FOR THE REGION, FOR THE WORLD AS A WHOLE, WHAT SIGNAL THAT IS GOING TO SEND TO RADICAL GROUPS EVERYWHERE, THAT PEOPLE CAN BE RIPPED FROM THEIR HOMES, HELD HOSTAGE WITH IMMUNITY, IT WOULD SEEM AND DECIDE TO DO WHATEVER THEY FEEL LIKE DOING WITH THESE HOSTAGES. THIS HAS TO END, NOT JUST FOR THE GOOD OF THE HOSTAGES, THE FAMILIES WHO ARE DESPERATELY AWAITING THEM TO COME HOME BUT FOR THE PEOPLE OF GAZA. THERE'S NO HOPE FOR THEM EITHER UNTIL THE HOSTAGES ARE RELEASED. >> JONATHAN, WE
