Daniel and 135 others – ALL must return

Our friends and neighbors are one of the hostage families and although they are possibly the strongest and bravest people I know, I can only begin to imagine the pain that they and their extended families are feeling right now. It is replicated across 136 families who have lived through sheer terror and have done so with courage and a really impressive attitude but it is too much to bare.

I am very grateful that I am not one of the leaders who has to decide what a kidnapped life is worth in terms of the trade off versus what and who we have to give in return, and I am aware of all the consequences of such a negotiation. We know we will have to pay a price but where to draw the line I truly don’t know, but what I do feel strongly about is the following.

This calculation has a darker side as well. In some of the foreign media value judgements are being made between the different profiles of hostages and that some are higher priority than others and that some could be allowed to remain captive…for example Male, Jewish, Soldiers, Israeli.

This is not acceptable … ALL must come home.

Daniel Peretz (the son of our good friends and neighbors) put his life on the line and was one of the first respondents to the 7th October attack, doing all he could to courageously save lives. He and members of his crew were taken hostage by Hamas. In other circumstances it could have been my son who was also fighting in the same area.

Daniel and his fellow soldiers are heroes who saved countless lives and protected our country from further loss and we need to ensure they are treated as such and that they and all the captives are our top priority in the coming days! Our soldiers along with the other captives must know that we have their backs and that we won’t leave them behind – I know that this is hugely important to the families.

We are unfortunately not going to like any deal made but we will have to swallow some bitter pills to bring them home. We owe it to them.

In the meantime let’s keep praying for Daniel Shimon ben Sharon and all those missing.