101 Hostages Are Still In Hell

The horrible and cursed day of October seventh found me in Boston, visiting my daughter and starting a series of meetings and lectures across the United States. Boston is a city that I love very much, but on that day, it felt alien to me, because all I wished for was to return to Israel. I was extremely concerned for my country, for friends and family in the kibbutzim Beeri, Re’im, and my birthplace, kibbutz Manara, as well as for my son and son-in-law who were immediately called up for reserve duty.

I landed in a wounded and painful country that I did not recognize. The day after landing I was invited to join a group of former diplomats mobilized to assist the families of the hostages in Hamas captivity. I understood that my greatest contribution would be by leveraging my skills and connections as a diplomat to promote the return of their loved ones.

In those days of such great sorrow and agony, there was also hope – we felt it in the commitment of Israelis to assist the victims’ families, the evacuees, and the soldiers. We saw civil society organizations, some of which demonstrated in the streets for our democracy before the war and were labeled anarchists by the government, stepping up to fill the void left by the state. We hoped that our leadership would also act to restore security and peace, and to bring back the hostages.

Together with friends and colleagues, former members of the Israeli Foreign Service, we arrived at the Families of Hostages and The Missing Forum, and joined hundreds of volunteers from various disciplines. We thought then that it was our duty to enlist the world’s leadership on our side. We met with ambassadors, state leaders, foreign ministers, and senior officials, and we worked to help advance the issue of the hostages up to the top of the international agenda.

There were impressive successes – the American administration answered the call, starting with President Biden, through Vice President Harris, Secretary of State Blinken, CIA Director Burns, and National Security Advisor Sullivan, rallied for this mission in an inspiring manner. Leaders and ambassadors from Europe and other continents met with us and supported us, with such figures as German Ambassador to Israel at the frontline, who among others made the connection with the families a part of their daily routine.

At that time, when former IDF commanders in chief, Gantz and Eisenkot, in light of the emergency situation took leave from their role as Israeli opposition leaders and joined the war cabinet, we were optimistic. The hostage deal carried out in November, which brought back home some eighty abductees alive, made us feel that there was a blessing in our efforts, that a process was beginning which would bring about the return of all the hostages. However, the optimism was shattered against the hard ground of reality when the deal was halted and the war resumed.

As the days, weeks, and months have passed, the understanding has sharpened that the core difficulty lies not only in the cruel cynicism of Hamas, but also here, in Israel, and that the Israeli government was also at fault. I felt that diplomacy was being neglected in favor of exclusively using of force, that there were those in the government who were willing to sacrifice the abducted for the sake of realizing their occupation fantasies, and a weak prime minister was being dragged along by them. I understood that our role has shifted from doing lobbying work among international bodies and individuals, in order to persuade them to put pressure on Hamas to compromise – to talking them into exerting pressure on our own government as well.

I understood that we are dealing not only with a murderous and barbaric terrorist organization that has killed, raped, and kidnapped civilians, but also with the Netanyahu government whose members include those who sanctify territory and war over human lives. Ministers who believe that the war that tore the country apart was a sign of the beginning of redemption, and that they would not allow any arrangement that, aside from the hostages, would also bring about a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip.

Over time, thanks to the Sisyphean efforts of families and other teams at the Hostages Families Forum, public opinion in Israel has changed, and for a long time now, the majority of the public in Israel prefers a deal despite the cost of releasing terrorists and ending the war. The government has no public mandate in its opposition to the deal.

For a long time, the Hostages Families Forum tried with all its might not to turn the issue of the hostages into a political dispute, but the government’s “mouthpieces” in the Media managed to transform this natural, humanistic demand to do everything possible to bring the hostages home – and portray it as a destructive, anarchistic act that would prevent Israel from achieving the “total victory”.

The past year began with a terrible disaster, but throughout it, the IDF proved its strength and capabilities. Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been defeated, but the goals of the war will never be achieved as long as the hostages are not back safely. There is a vast consensus among security officials, that the State of Israel does not need the Philadelphi Corridor or the Nezarim Route to protect its citizens; it is strong enough without them. However, leaving the hostages to die in the hands of the enemy would be one blow too many for the fragile and hurting Israeli society.

For the sake of the hostages and their families, many of whom we have come to know, to love, and to admire for their strength and determination to bring their loved ones home; For the sake of solidarity in the Israeli society, and for the sake of our sanity, we must continue to act, to demand, and to promote their return. To be the voice of reason, compassion, and humanity, against the voices of occupation and apocalypticism, which seek to sacrifice our daughters and sons, our parents and siblings, on the altar of their nationalist fundamentalism.

This is an urgent humanitarian issue. The hostages have been in the hands of Hamas terrorists for 11 months. They endure physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, starvation, and darkness. This is unacceptable for any human being, without exception or excuse.

The simple facts from the chronicle of this war are clear: eighty hostages have been brought back through a deal with Hamas, while only eight were rescued alive by military operations. Therefore, now more than ever, time is critical. Only a deal can save those who have survived for such a long time. The only way to release the hostages, is by agreeing to a ceasefire, to end suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians and to prevent a wider regional conflict.

We need to act now. The free world must act to bring them home. Leaders and governments must continue pressuring Sinwar and Netanyahu to accept the deal.

As it says in the Talmud: “Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world.”