It’s very simple

Suppose Hamas tells Israel: “OK, I will give you back hostages on condition that you give us the whole country of Israel, and you leave the country.”

Would you do it, or would you say: “One second. You’re asking a very high price. No, I don’t think we’re gonna do that.”

Insisting that the war end in order to get the hostages back, is another way of Hamas saying, “Give us the key to the country.” Because if the war ends and Hamas is not destroyed and is still in possession of Gaza, then they are in the position to be able to launch another October 7, G-d forbid.

So it’s very simple — allowing Hamas to survive to retain Gaza is too high a price to pay, because it undermines the entire security of Israel.

At this time of emotional heartbreak, it’s very important for Israel to keep their eye on the ball. Smotrich said today in a post, that we can’t allow our broken hearts to rule us. We need to be guided by our intelligence.

So what’s the answer to Hamas and other terrorist organizations like Iran and its proxies? The answer is, that instead of capitulation and giving them land and other things to try to placate them, we need to show a stand, we need to make a strong military threat. Not that we need to necessarily fight against Iran, but we need to show a credible military threat, so that they are deterred. Which is exactly what’s happening now. The US moved their aircraft carriers into the region, warning Iran and Hezbollah that if they escalate things, it can be catastrophic for them. And when Iran and Hezbollah did try to attack, those attacks were neutralized.

The way to achieve peace is to not give in to terrorism, but instead to show a strong hand. Because as soon as you start proclaiming things like “We will give in, we will give away land,” that can encourage terrorism.

Who knows if Lapid’s stance, and public demonstrations against the government, and Gallant’s vote against the security cabinet last Thursday, (and his subsequent announcement that the security cabinet should change their position and withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor, thus allowing weapons to be smuggled to Hamas), who knows if that itself is what motivated Hamas to murder the hostages, in the hopes that this will add more pressure, and strengthen pressure on the government to give in and, in the words of Smotrich, to surrender.

October 7 was enabled in the first place, because Israel withdrew from Gaza. The lesson is clear. In order to discourage terrorism, it’s not by giving up land, enabling and motivating terrorism to do an October 7, but rather by being strong and proclaiming clearly, as the government did recently, that Israel will not give away land for a Palestinian state, and by strengthening efforts to eradicate Hamas, and by showing Hezbollah and Iran that there’s a credible military threat that will cost them dearly if they escalate matters, and then neutralizing their attacks when they do something.

This is the way to deal with this situation. We need to use our minds, not our hearts, to stop the terrorism. We need to look back at history to see what didn’t work and learn from that.

Israel is strong. Israel’s government is determined to eradicate evil wherever it is. Israel has found a new spirit, and the government is leading the country with strength and conviction, and with an intelligent approach on how to protect the country.