search
Alan Edelstein

Elation, trepidation, disappointment

Today was a clear, beautiful, and warm Shabbat in Jerusalem, more like April than January. We were sitting in our synagogue, just starting to read the Haftorah portion, when a tzeva adom, a red alert, wailed out.

There was a little hesitation, some quick quizzical looks. One of our members called out something like “walla,” shorthand for “what are we waiting for,” and we all traipsed down to the shelter.

No panic. No rush.  More like resignation, a feeling of “once again.” A question of “isn’t this over yet?”  A look of “they have to get in one last shot.”

A couple of us pulled out and turned on phones and confirmed what we suspected: it was the Houthis firing their one-a-day ballistic missile at a population center in Israel.

Some people take a one-a-day vitamin.  The Houthis shoot a ballistic missile from a dirt-poor, failed nation that could use every dollar it can find at a people 1373 miles away who have done absolutely nothing to them. Their second in command has straightforwardly declared that their motivation is pure hatred of Jews.

The daily missile crosses a wide swath of Israel, inflicting terror and sending a substantial segment of the population to shelters and safe rooms.

They usually take their shot at night.  Today they chose the morning. Perhaps they were afraid they wouldn’t get it in before the ceasefire took effect.

We stood around in the shelter for about 10 minutes, waiting, resigned, chatting, thinking.  Then we went back up to the sanctuary and finished the service, undoubtedly like hundreds of thousands of other Israelis.  Life went on almost like nothing had happened.

As we finished the service, I did take special note of the last sentence of Psalm 29: “The Lord shall grant strength to His people; the Lord shall bless His people with peace.”

I hope so.  But I have my doubts.  Big ones.

People are, of course, overjoyed to see some hostages about to be released, although there is great fear and trepidation about what shape they will be in, how many will be dead, and whether there will be any last-minute snags.

There is tremendous fear that the planned slow release of the first 33 hostages in Phase 1 will fall apart at some point.  And there is great concern that we will be leaving enough of Hamas still intact that it will be able to regroup and resupply, take control of Gaza, and resume terrorizing southern Israel.

And there is dread over the very real possibility that we will never see those held for Phase 2 alive again.  We know for sure that a desperate yet emboldened Hamas will demand an exorbitant price for those left behind.  They have no other chips, and they have no compunction at using human beings as chips.

The Times of Israel has published an informative piece on the timing of the release of the hostages.

Everyone, including those in support of the deal, are sickened about releasing hundreds if not thousands of terrorists and leaving Hamas still in a position of power in Gaza, even with much diminished capabilities.

We know from bitter experience that some of those terrorists will come back to murder Israelis. Former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the architect of the October 7th slaughter who was released by Israel along with 1026 other terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit in 2011, is a poster child for the consequences of conceding to this cynical extortion.

It is a bitter pill, but one most Israelis are willing to swallow to free the hostages.

Many are infuriated that Netanyahu waited until now to make a deal very much like the one they feel he could have made several months ago, saving many soldiers’ lives and freeing hostages sooner.  It is, however, questionable whether Hamas would have made the deal.  And, at least until recently, Israel was inflicting significant damage to Hamas’ capabilities.

Still, many feel that if the deal is acceptable now, why wasn’t it done earlier.  Why have young soldiers died, and why have hostages suffered and possibly died?  The answer for many:  Netanyahu’s need to appease the far-right members of his coalition so that he can stay in power and out of jail.

Many on the right feel bitterly betrayed over the deal.  Netanyahu promised surrender by and/or destruction of Hamas. Now, in a quick second, after one visit from Trump’s incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, he caved.  He accepted things that he had just recently declared to be unacceptable risks to Israel.

Netanyahu reversing course, misleading people, doing just about anything to survive, is nothing new to Israelis.  He does it to his allies as well as the opposition.  It is for that reason that several parties who are ideologically aligned with Likud sit in the opposition.

Still, people believed. They feel that a clear-cut victory over and elimination of Hamas are essential to release of all of the hostages and to Israel’s future security, and they are bitterly disappointed.

(By the way, Witkoff is highly questionable as a neutral arbiter.  Among other entanglements, he recently sold the Park Lane Hotel in N.Y. to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for $623 million.)

Many of these same people, including Israeli Americans, are also bitterly disappointed in President Trump.  They feel, or felt, that Trump was the “best U.S. president Israel ever had,” and they apparently believed he would support Israel as it pursued total defeat of Hamas.  The shock and disillusionment are palpable.

Many Israelis and pro-Israel American Jews disagreed with President Biden on his approach to Iran, on strategies and tactics of the war, and on some of his criticisms during the war.

But, at bottom, Biden is ideologically a supporter of Israel, a self-described Zionist, and a president who, at some significant political risk, has supplied billions of dollars in support as well as U.S. equipment and personnel to defend Israel from attack.  (Just two weeks ago, Biden proposed another $8 billion dollars in arms support for Israel.)

President Trump has no ideology.  A narcissist, his guiding star is his personal success and aggrandizement.  As Netanyahu evidently well understands, you disregard Trump’s wishes at considerable risk, possibly with terrible consequences.

I argued this to many pro-Trump Israelis and American Jews. I did not expect to see my argument so clearly illustrated so soon, even before President Trump takes the oath of office.

An American Israeli was on the TV news Thursday evening. She was indignant, on the verge of tears. She recounted how she had convinced her friends and family in the U.S. to vote for Trump because he could be counted on to stand by Israel all the way. She was furious over what she saw as a massive betrayal.

The only thing surprising about this woman and the many others who share her feelings is their surprise.

————————————————————–

The BBC has a well-deserved reputation for being stridently biased against Israel.  But they have published a credible recounting of the negotiations that led to the agreement.  In the recounting the Biden Administration acknowledges that what got Hamas to move was Israel’s military actions against it and Hezbollah.  They conveniently fail to acknowledge that the Administration opposed key aspects of those actions.

Brett Stephens does his usual masterly job in explaining what the deal means for Israel, how Trump impacted it, and what it might portend for the future of the Middle East under the second Trump presidency.

About the Author
Alan Edelstein made Aliyah in 2011 and lives in Jerusalem. He was the founding partner of a well-respected California government affairs firm and was involved in California government and politics as a lobbyist and consultant for 30 years. He blogs at www.edelsteinrandomthoughts.com. He can be reached at alanedelstein10@gmail.com