Israel At War 5785: Bo – From Pharaoh to Hamas, Until When Will This Be a Snare?
What does it take for people to lose faith in a leader—or an ideology—that has led them into disaster?
In Bo, we find the first rumblings of dissent against Pharaoh’s policy. After seven plagues, each worse than the last, and warned of a coming plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s servants said to him:
“Until when will this (one) be a snare for us?…Not yet do you know that Egypt is lost?” (Exodus 10:7)
But Pharaoh would have none of it. When Moses demanded that all the slaves and their livestock be released to worship in the wilderness, Pharaoh mocked him and drove him out of his presence. It took three more devastating plagues, culminating in the slaying of all Egyptian firstborn, for Pharaoh to yield. Even then, he reneged on his promise to Moses, sending his cavalry to take back the departed slaves.
But at least Pharaoh did not punish his advisors for their dissent. What of Gazan dissent against Hamas? What dissent we have seen has been quickly stamped out. Recently, Hamas executed 11 Gazans accused of collaborating with Israel. Yet this is a small number in a population of two million. Most, it seems, either out of fear of punishment or from conviction, have not reached the conclusion that their nation is lost.
In November, Israel offered not only monetary reward but safe passage out of Gaza for anyone who provided information on the hostages held there. We do not know if any did so; certainly, no hostages have been freed as a result of information given. And now Israel has had to release hundreds of convicted prisoners and begun withdrawing from the Netzarim corridor, allowing Gazans to return to the north, just to get back a mere trickle of hostages.
Gazan recalcitrance may not have been the only factor leading to this lopsided deal. It is not known whether pressure from President Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, had an effect. Perhaps Netanyahu felt that fighting was endangering the hostages more than leading to their release. Perhaps it was a combination of these, along with other factors as yet unknown.
But what seems sure is that neither Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, nor ordinary Gazans told Sinwar in the past, or now whatever leadership remains, that their fight has been lost and they should let the hostages go.
Perhaps if Israel had kept up the military pressure, Gaza would have broken—although it is hard to see how much more devastation could be wreaked on this people. Water quality there is not much better than that of the blood-filled Nile. Sickness stalks both beasts and humans. Israeli bombardment has taken the place of hail and locusts to devastate agriculture, housing, and infrastructure. And many have lost not only children, firstborn or otherwise, but entire families.
But while Gazans have voiced anger at Hamas for starting this war, it has been only because of the consequences. They have not changed their minds that the murders and kidnappings were justified. They have not abandoned an ideology that seeks the killing and expulsion of Jews and claims all the land from the river to the sea as rightfully Palestinian only. Last year, the European Parliament acknowledged that there was a direct link between the incitement and hatred in Palestinian schools’ textbooks and the atrocities of October 7th.
Similarly, Hezbollah textbooks in Lebanon are rife with antisemitism and incitement. Lebanese crowds trying to return to villages in the south of their country still held by the IDF remain defiant, openly waving Hezbollah flags and pictures of slain Hezbollah fighters. Losing their homes and becoming internal refugees has not moved them to realize that their hatred has become a snare for them.
Pharaoh and the ancient Egyptians had a strong economic interest in not losing their free labor, in addition to their unfounded fear that the Hebrews would be a fifth column siding with Egypt’s enemies. As far as we know, their educational materials and religious sermons were not hotbeds of Hebrew-hating propaganda. Yet it was still extremely difficult for them to change their minds. But change them they did, eventually. We see no such change in the minds of the followers of Hamas and Hezbollah.
It seems that an ideology of hate-filled supremacy is a snare stronger than self-interest and extremely resistant to alternative perspectives. Ultimately, Pharaoh’s army had to be wiped out. Wiping out every Hamas and Hezbollah battalion may be the only long-term and effective guarantor of Israeli survival. In Egypt, the slaves had to be freed first. Let us see what can be done after every hostage has been returned.