Coming Home
The return of the first three hostages after more than a year in captivity in Gaza was a rare moment of unity in Israel. Like most other people in the country, I was glued to the television screen on the afternoon set for their return and was not sure what I would be witnessing.
The scene of the baying crowd of Gazans surrounding the vehicles bringing the three young women, Emily, Doron and Romi, was like something out of a horror movie. Watching the three figures run the gauntlet of the throng, with heavily armed and masked Hamas fighters supervising their transfer to the Red Cross vehicles, I felt a mixture of anger and fear. I thought I was seeing three frail young women being forced to endure yet another terrifying experience.
After a nerve-wracking interval, the images on the screen eventually shifted to another location where we could see the young women stepping out of the Red Cross vehicles and being welcomed by Israeli soldiers. At last they were able to breathe freely. I think I was not alone in being pleasantly surprised to see them walk confidently towards the waiting soldiers before being taken to the building where each one was due to be reunited with her mother.
These were not fragile, delicate little creatures who had endured hell on earth in the tunnels of Gaza but sturdy, self-assured young women who were free at last. To see the buoyant way they walked alongside the soldiers accompanying them to the meeting with their mothers was inspiring and encouraging. And of course the videos which later emerged showing the moment each one fell into her mother’s arms was heartwarming to an almost unbearable degree. I find it difficult to believe that anyone could have watched that without shedding a tear or two of joy.
Which gives rise to the thought ‘what about their fathers?’ After all, fathers are parents too. And presumably they, too, have emotions of love, concern and yearning to be reunited with their daughter. It seems that, perhaps for practical considerations, someone decided that only one parent could be accommodated in the initial encounter and the helicopter ride to the hospital, where other family members were waiting. The moments of the emotional family reunions which came later were captured by cameras and broadcast to the nation, bringing another surge of joy to all.
The price Israel is paying for the return of the hostages is high and involves the release of many hundreds of terrorists from our prisons. It is undoubtedly a cause for concern and has aroused the opposition of some segments of the coalition government. One party even resigned from the government in protest, while another party voted against it but still saw fit to send a message of welcome to the first three hostages who returned.
The process whereby the remaining hostages will be released remains uncertain, and strong nerves will be required by all concerned in order to ensure that the ceasefire agreement is upheld and negotiations continue until all our hostages, whether dead or alive, are restored to their families or brought for burial in Israel. Many agonizing decisions will have to be made but the mission of repatriating all the hostages is of paramount importance. That is the message that our first three returning hostages have repeated over and over again.