Reacher, where are you?

Our routine for Motzei Shabbat is to watch a movie or two. This time on August 31 we binge watched the last 3 episodes of the second TV season of Reacher. Satisfied by the good ending where Reacher takes out all of the bad guys, though somewhat disturbed by the cruelty and number of gruesome killings I opened my iPad to read the news, and my heart plunged into the abyss. Six young Israeli hostages were found murdered, guess who murdered them – Hamas. What a surprise! I guess nobody expected the good charitable people of Hamas to commit such despicable crime. If only one person, not to be named, would agree to a deal with Hamas this would not have happened. Apparently, agreements with the devil based on extortion and blackmail lead to release of, as people hope so, living Israeli hostages and ceasefire in Gaza. Hard to believe. What we need I thought is Reacher to come and pull out Sinwar out of a Gaza tunnel and strangle him no questions asked. However, Reacher did not come.

Instead, Israel and Jews in diaspora went into mourning and descended into despondence together with the families of hostages. General strikes erupted and disrupted life in Israel. And many people in Israel and around the world are calling for a deal to get the remaining living hostages home. The better term for this deal is “ceasefire” on Hamas terms. And for once Israelis are in agreement with calls from UN, governments (including American) for immediate ceasefire!!

And Hamas? They must be laughing, they got the Jews in the corner – you murder a few innocent hostages, toss their bodies around, and Eureka! Jews are calling for capitulation, ready to give up what the IDF achieved since the beginning of the war. Together with the “honest” mediators from Qatar and Egypt – just withdraw from all Gaza, including all strategic points, release dangerous Palestinian prisoners in large numbers and start reconstruction of Gaza, and if you will behave, we may release a few hostages (though not all may be living) over the period of 6 weeks. And then? Who knows, more hostages, more dead bodies, new deadly massacres on Israel (after all those released prisoners gained experience on October 7). And I am sure Iran is laughing the most, this might be the retaliation they have been talking about.

Do not get me wrong, I am myself a mother and grandmother – this is the worst thing for parents and families to receive dead loved ones who went through horrible suffering over the last 11 months. But I am afraid that the approach outlined above will only encourage Hamas to murder more hostages so they can extract more concessions and stay entrenched in Gaza. What I find immensely distressing is that nobody calls these heinous murders war crimes and calls for retributions are so far sparse True Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary said that “Hamas must be held accountable for these heinous executions”, Kamala Harris and other Western leaders expressed horror over the murders, however, instead of calling for arresting and/or destroying Hamas they call for ceasefire and thus for providing lifeline and support to Hamas! UK prime minister Keir Starmer expressed horror over the murder of hostages, though this was followed almost immediately by limiting arms sales to Israel – it is difficult to imagine that a prime minister of a (ex-colonial power) like the UK would be so naïve not to know that Israel is waging an existential war and needs the weapons. Anyway, he still calls for ceasefire. One surprising announcement came yesterday from Canada where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demands Hamas surrender. One can only hope that other leaders will join him in the near future. This is in stark contrast President Joe Biden who thinks that Netanyahu should do more for the elusive ceasefire. Isn’t this concern misplaced, should not he put more, much more pressure on Hamas and its comrades? To me it sounds more like appeasement of Hamas, and that, at least in my opinion, will embolden Hamas to demand more and give less in return.

Let me suggest that this approach of insisting on ceasefire according to Hamas has it backwards right from the beginning of negotiations with Hamas. At the least Israel with the support of US and some of the countries whose citizens were abducted as well should have conditioned ceasefire upon release of all hostages as the first step. It is too late for that. US, Israeli and other governments, UN and other organizations should have put pressure not only on Hamas, but on their accomplices, such as Qatar and Egypt to release hostages as a precondition for ceasefire. Those two countries should not only be condemned for abetting criminals but should be sanctioned as well. How can Qatar be an honest mediator in its function as a host to Hamas leaders, a financier of Hamas, making sure that Hamas leaders enjoy lavish lives, and as a financial supporter of pernicious propaganda and incitement of antisemitism and violence against Jews at universities in the US and Europe to name just a couple of Qatar’s malicious activities. And Egypt who has a peace treaty with Israel since 1979 but who managed to profit from weapon smuggling to Gaza through the infamous Philadelphi Corridor – surprise, surprise – is this the reason why Hamas insists that Israel withdraw, and Israel insists that it is not leaving the corridor. One should ask why does Hamas insist to get IDF out of the corridor if not for replenishment of its weapon arsenal, and that raises another question, is Hamas serious about keeping a ceasefire? And I suspect that everybody knows the answer. Hamas should be pressed to surrender and if nothing else at least the upper echelons, including Sinwar and the guys in Qatar and fighters should go to exile, Turkey, Iran, Siberia?

And reconstruction of Gaza? That should come after Hamas, or at least its leadership is gone and de-hamasification process, i.e., activity equivalent to de-nazification in of post-war Germany, in other words plan similar to Marshall plan from 74 years ago. Everybody would benefit from these measures, Israel and Palestinians the most, other Arab countries, not to speak of US, Europe, many countries in Africa and other continents where terrorism is running free.

And, you never know, Reacher may still come.