It’s time we use our collective power to stop the war and get our hostages back

People of Israel, let’s talk amongst ourselves for a few minutes. No UN, no campus protests, just us. We need to talk about how we’ve lost our soul and how we can get it back.

Like most Israelis, about a month ago I turned on Channel 12 to watch Eli Sharabi speak with Ilana Dayan about his 491 days as a hostage in Hamas captivity. 

Eli talked about bombs falling on the buildings where he was hidden; about the ropes and shackles that tore into his flesh while he moved and slept; about having to beg for food and beg to use the bathroom; about a hunger that tortured him and caused his stomach to turn inward. 

Eli also shared that the main reason he sat for the interview was to help save Alon Ohel and the other remaining living hostages. Eli spent a year with Alon while in captivity; as of a few days ago, according to his parents Alon is “suffering life threatening injuries and is on the brink of becoming blind.” 

Hearing all of this makes me sick and angry. Is this the Israel we have become? Are we a country that subjects our hostages to this kind of endless suffering? Are we a country whose government continues to ignore the cries and pleas of the hostages, their loved ones, and the majority of Israelis in favor of endless war? 

People of Israel, we have lost our soul and we need to get it back. We cannot be whole again until we return to the ceasefire-hostage deal and bring our hostages home. Every day the war continues brings more death and destruction, and the still-living hostages are in constant mortal danger and need to come home now. 

Are you horrified and angry about the state of the war and the fate of the hostages? Me too. Let’s do something about it. 

My name is Bryan Hanan Oren and I’m an educator and scholar. Since Oct. 7 and for many years before, I have taught about current events in Israel and about community organizing. 

In light of my experience and expertise, below is an analysis of where we are and a toolbox for what we could do next to put pressure on our prime minister and our government to stop the war and bring our hostages home. 

Despite the government, a large and broad majority of us wants the hostages back

Lest you think that we are only a fringe group of Israelis who want to return to a ceasefire-hostage deal, think again. 

According to a poll conducted by Channel 12 on March 28, 69% of Israelis are in favor moving to the second phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal in which hostages would be returned in exchange for a withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza.  

We have a broad consensus and a large mandate to prioritize returning to the ceasefire-hostage deal over continuing the war in Gaza. This consensus includes people from across the political spectrum: from Likud and Labor, Shas and Yesh Atid, Religious Zionism and United Torah Judaism. Even 51% of Israelis who voted for this coalition support moving to the second stage of the deal.

When have 7 out of 10 Israelis from all sectors of Israeli society agreed on anything?  It’s really no small miracle. 

My fellow Israelis: how much more proof do we need to realize that this government is not representing the large majority of us on the most urgent Israeli social issue of our time? Innocent people are counting on us. 

Our government refuses to listen to the will of the people, the people whose husbands and brothers, whose fathers and cousins, whose friends and friends of friends are still suffering deep within Gaza’s tunnels. Our government would sooner keep us at war than listen to the interests of the significant majority of Israelis who want to see us return to a ceasefire-hostage deal and bring the hostages home.

If the government is unwilling to govern according to our collective will, then we need to look at where else in society we have the power to pressure our leaders to govern as they should. 

What mass protests do and don’t do

Some of us might doubt the impact the mass protest movement has had to change the prime minister’s mind about the war and the hostages. I have also asked these questions. It’s important to know what protests do and what they don’t do in the realm of community organizing. 

Protests let us know that we are not alone in feeling angry about the war and the lack of urgency around the hostages. Protests give us hope that things can change. Protests can even convince our prime minister to change his mind. 

But mass protests are only one tool in the organizing toolbox, and they are sometimes only a symbolic one. At the end of the day, after protests most people go home. And until now, despite our best efforts our political leaders have largely ignored us.

Now is the time to also use other tools in our toolbox to put pressure on our government to stop the war and get our hostages home. 

Other tactics we should try 

We need to throw many wrenches into the gears of our society, to grind our society to a halt until we have convinced our leaders to stop the war and bring our hostages home. 

I call upon all Israelis and the institutions to which we belong: our unions, our military units, our schools, even our beloved tv shows and sports teams. 

We need to enact a nationwide general strike now to stop the war and get our hostages back.

All of us need to use the physical and economic power that we possess individually and collectively to put pressure on Bibi Netanyahu and our government until he recommits to the ceasefire-hostage deal.  

This movement should represent the broadest possible coalition of Israelis from diverse political and ethnic backgrounds, from different labor sectors, and from every region of the country. Everyone is welcome under this broad tent to stop the war and return our hostages. 

Leveraging the power of our military

In March of 2023, when the government tried to pass the judicial overhaul and fire then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, 40 reservist pilots from the Israeli Air Force’s 69th Squadron threatened to not show up for reserve training. In addition, 10 former Air Force chiefs signed an open letter warning the Prime Minister to address the issues that were causing the rifts in our society. Reservists from the elite unit 8200 also added on, threatening the military that they too would not show up for duty.

Where is this level of outrage and direct action from our military for our hostages? Why can’t our military institutions add this kind of pressure to stop the war and get our hostages home? 

The data is clear: in the 546 days since October 7th, 65 days of ceasefire-hostage deals have returned 135 living hostages. In contrast, almost 500 days of war have returned only 8 living hostages and accidentally killed 3 hostages who had escaped captivity. 

The sad and sober reality is that military operations have all but failed to rescue living hostages and they’ve caused enormous pain and suffering for far too many in the process. 

This is no secret. Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said as much when he told the Israeli people that our government “did not do everything it could have to return the hostages” when it continually opted for war over a ceasefire-hostage deal whose parameters were negotiated as early as April of 2024.  

If military operations will not bring our hostages home, why are we still choosing endless war? Why can’t we re-commit to a ceasefire-hostage deal as our leaders refuse to?

Our prime minister has made a choice to return us to war. But he’s not the only one. 

Soldiers, officers, and commanders, this war requires your compliance too. Bibi is not fighting this war from his couch on Balfour Street: You are. You have extraordinary influence over the prime minister, and if you threaten to stay home from duty unless we return to ceasefire-hostage negotiations then you would put enormous pressure on him to wake up to this issue. 

You would not be alone in refusing to serve. In the last few weeks alone, IDF officers and commanders reported that after a year and a half of fighting and an immense burden on them and their families, 50-70% of IDF reservists are already refusing to enlist. This has created a dire situation for the IDF, which has been operating at 30% under its desired capacity.

Back in March of 2023, Bibi Netanyahu responded to the direct actions from our military against the judicial reforms by stating, “when we’re called for reserve duty, we always turn up. We are one nation.” 

It’s clear that the prime minister takes the military for granted, assuming that the Israeli people will fight this war no matter what. It’s also clear that he assumes that he alone has the authority to send us to war. 

But this should be a collective decision we make together. If 7 out of 10 of us believe that we should be moving ahead with the second stage of the ceasefire-hostage deal, why can the prime minister alone send us back to war?  

Soldiers, officers, and commanders; Air Force, Infantry, Armored Corps, Navy, and Intelligence; conscripts, career soldiers, and reservists: Tell your commanders your concerns. Threaten to and refuse to show up. The hostages’ lives are at stake. Show up for them like you showed up for democracy in 2023. 

Leveraging the power of our economy and our workforce 

Also back in March of 2023, in the face of the judicial overhaul controversy, chair of the Histadrut Arnon Bar-David called for a general strike of 700,000 workers, “an historic strike in which workers and employers will together halt the judicial overhaul.”

Just look at how powerful that was; the strike only took one day before Bibi gave in, reinstating Gallant and pausing the judicial overhaul. The Histadrut was quickly joined by labor unions, high tech, airports, doctors and other workers from many labor sectors all over the country. 

Why does this moment not call for another historic labor strike that reflects the mortal danger these hostages are in and the urgency of the situation? 

I am not talking about a one-day strike like the one the Histadrut called for back in September – that was largely symbolic, a light slap on the wrist to the prime minister and proof to him that we are not taking this issue seriously or urgently enough. I am talking about a sustained shutdown that shows how powerful our economy and workforce is at driving change, the type of impact the Histadrut’s strike had in 2023. 

This pressure can also happen through a ground-up process as well: Workers, talk to your colleagues and tell your employer about how concerned you are about the war and the hostages. Wear this issue in numbers on your chests and bring it up at every staff meeting. Organize local strikes, walkouts, and lobbying campaigns throughout the country to add pressure and raise awareness about this issue with our leaders. 

Workers, tell your supervisors; supervisors, tell your bosses, and bosses, run it up the flagpole until this issue reaches our union leaders and the Histadrut. Let’s make this issue so front-of-mind that there’s no way our leaders can ignore it anymore and they are inspired to take action. 

Leveraging the power of our entertainment industry

Over the last year and a half, many of us have watched television shows and sports in order to step away from our present reality. I can certainly understand why – the last few years here have been hell and if HaYehudim Baim can numb our pain and even make us laugh for a moment that is a much-needed if not brief respite.

Entertainers and Athletes: Please stop. Stop filming. Stop playing. Stop everything until we all take the fate of the war and the hostages more seriously. What you all do is vital and important, but it is a luxury and we don’t need luxuries until we have returned to the ceasefire-hostage deal and brought our hostages home. You all have enormous social and economic influence, and I implore you to use it to keep our focus on this issue. Flood your social media platforms and share this message widely and often. 

News and Content Producers: make this the subject 24-7. Spread information about mass protests that are happening. Educate people about the actions they can take to add pressure to our institutions and our government to change their course. Help keep our attention on this issue. You curate what we prioritize. 

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When you become a citizen of a country, each of us enters into a social contract between the people and government of that country. This social contract states that if you are a part of our country, if you are a part of us, we will look after you. 

My fellow Israelis, this government has broken its social contract with the hostages. This government has broken its social contract with all of us. 

That is because we are the hostages and they are us. They are our brothers, our friends, our students, our teachers. They are the young hopeful couples sitting next to us in the fertility ward of the hospital. They are the people also cursing under their breath waiting in line at Misrad Hapnim. They are the strangers we take naps next to on long bus rides home.

We need to do better for the hostages and their loved ones. We need to do better for ourselves. For who are we as a country if we leave them there to die? Who are we if we continue to choose endless war over 24 precious, living Israeli souls? 

If the government refuses to recommit to a ceasefire and negotiations to bring our hostages home, then we need to pressure them to change their minds because the social and material cost for them is too high to continue the war.

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There’s a children’s book I often read to my three-year-old daughter. In it, two girls combine forces to build a playground for their community. The book keeps repeating this phrase: “No one could do everything. But everyone could contribute something.”

People of Israel: go do something now to help stop the war and bring back the hostages. Whoever and wherever you are. 

Stop working. Tell your commanders, your bosses, your unions, your political leaders, your sports teams, your schools, and your entertainment studios that things are not ok. This moment is not about business-as-usual; it’s about doing everything we can to bring about change. 

If we all do something together, we might be able to save some hostages and many others in the process. 

Please share widely. 

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“Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Sanhedrin 4:5 

“There is no mitzvah as great as the redemption of captives.” Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 8:11

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Bryan Oren (he/him) is a doctoral candidate in Learning and Teaching Sciences at the University of Haifa currently based in Jerusalem. Bryan is seasoned activist, program facilitator, curriculum designer, and education researcher. A Dorot Fellowship alum, Bryan holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of North Florida and a Bachelor’s in Comparative Literature and Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California.