Netanyahu’s prisoner swap would destroy the Likud

He will never be forgiven, and the Likud will become a political dwarf

Kidnappers demand a ransom. Should you pay up? What if they want to ‘exchange’ these innocent people for convicted criminals in Israeli jails?

What if the kidnappers are ruthless terrorists who illegally hold hundreds of hostages, young and old, dead, wounded, and alive?

What if families of the kidnapped tour the whole world to tell all politicians they must help to liberate their loved ones?

What if the kidnappers set free four elderly women but also murdered four hostages in captivity and now started bargaining?

What if hostage negotiations set terrible precedents?

What if hostage negotiations are the same mistake that led to the October 7 disaster? You cannot apply logic to agents of pure evil.

What if they want a ceasefire in return to relocate, regroup, and restock on weapons and ammunition thus improving their fight against the IDF?

What if military experts and IDF soldiers would be against a ceasefire?

What is more silly or stupid, to trust that a deal with wicked people (as different from just political rivals) could be a good deal for us, or to think we’d have anything to win from people dead set on exterminating us?

The Rabbis discuss freeing hostages in general at length as very important.

I tell you, the Israeli public won’t forget or forgive this ceasefire if the top Chamas leaders would manage to escape or if IDF soldiers would get hurt.

Our debacle of October 7 was clearly a pile of mistakes by many people. Left and right failed, but Bibi, more than others, needs to take the final responsibility (unrelated to guilt) because if the buck doesn’t stop at the PM, then at whom? But the public won’t forgive efforts to please Chamas and Biden at the expense of any Israelis. Just like the ruling party in the Netherlands was dismembered at the elections, yesterday. Biden is a true friend of the Jews. He sometimes gets all emotional, but he’ll be for us.

I’m not going to agitate against Netanyahu if he makes hostage deals. He has the right to do so. I’m just telling him: At the next elections, the public will give the Likud a beating it’ll never recover from. Ask Dutch PM Rutte.

If I were in charge, this is what I would do:

I’d tour the world (virtually), including a call to Biden, and tell them that hostage-taking is a war crime. No one can profit from war crimes. The Rabbis explain that the Eighth of the Ten Commandments is an Injunction on kidnapping. I’m not talking about punishment here. But certainly, I won’t give rewards to people who are committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violate the Ten Commandments, as we speak.

I would call their bluff. Instead of letting them mislead the world about how ‘humane’ they are for freeing some hostages against ever higher prices, I’d dare them to kill all for the whole world to see. To finish their 10/7 genocidal job and lose any gain made in misleading the world so far.

Maybe only after they let go of the youngest kids. Maybe from the start.

My only compromise would be to ‘exchange’ all the hostages against dead terrorists we have from October 7. All of the kidnapped. No more Mengele games, Antisemites enjoying to select and decide who lives and who dies.

I would harp to the whole world, the UN, the press, the EU, you name it, that these hostages must be let go immediately without preconditions and that the Red Cross must have access to them right now.

I’d try to persuade the hostages’ loved ones to agree that this is our best chance and ask the wider Israeli public to unite even more.

I would tell all Muslims around the world what Muslims in Israel already realized that Chamas is an anti-Islam evil and an eternal embarrassment.

I’d tell President Biden it might be his only chance to regain the Arab vote.

I would tell the IDF to hunt down the terrorists without hesitation. These monsters deserve only one choice: to surrender or die. We should free all hostages through our efforts and prayers and not rely on the wicked.

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Disclaimers: My oldest is serving in Gaza. I wrote years ago that, would I ever be kidnapped, I’d refuse to be exchanged against living murderers. I would want to live, but my blood is not redder than that of anyone else.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1