No Cognitive Dissonance

As I have repeated in previous blogposts, I do not experience cognitive dissonance keeping the hostages and their families at the very center of my heart and mind, literally praying every day for their speedy release, and at the same time urging Israel to stay strong in the face of terrorist cruelty.

Nor do I experience cognitive dissonance wishing the complete and speedy eradication of Hamas, and at the same time wishing sincerely that Palestinian civilians in Gaza can receive relief soon and a better future overall.

There is no cognitive dissonance because staying strong in the face of terrorist cruelty is the way to get the hostages back. And destroying Hamas is the way of ensuring true long-term relief for Palestinian civilians and a better future.

The more Hamas thinks Israel is under pressure to agree the ceasefire, the more it will raise the stakes, push harder and seek more. It is obvious.

And that is exactly what it has just done – the cost of a ceasefire has just gone up. 

Specifically, per the Washington Post, the latest ‘poison pill’ from Hamas means that terrorists serving life sentences for murdering Israelis would need to be released, G-d forbid, not only for IDF soldiers held captive in Gaza, but also for civilians.

Another theme on which i have written – the hostages and their families are not the only victims, as tragic and heart-rending as their plight is. Think of the families of those murdered by the terrorists that would be released.

I feel so sorry for the hostages and their families. I do not condemn them or have any anger with them at all, only love and respect and prayer – no-one else can know what it’s like in their place.

But I feel immense anger with those who have persuaded the hostage families into joining mass street protests and worldwide campaigns against the Government. They are making it harder not easier to bring their loved ones home.