The future and heart and soul of our nation: The hostages

We are in the midst of a non-stop, continuous war of horrid proportions since October 7, 2023. For so many of us, today is just a continuation of October 7, a day that goes on and on. For the hostage families, there is no other day. There is no past, no future, their lives cannot go on until all the hostages are home.

The war in Gaza should have ended quite some time ago, and the hostages, all of them, should have been brought home in a single deal. The only reason that it hasn’t happened is because Iron Swords War morphed into “Netanyahu’s War of Political Survival”. Even his bestie Trump couldn’t get him to end it unless he would put the necessary pressure on Netanyahu to force the end of the war. That didn’t happen for various reasons that I have described in earlier blog posts.

Now, we are in a new phase of Netanyahu’s War of Political Survival, the war with Iran. I am not going to argue whether or not this war is justified as most believe it is. The timing however is the real question. Netanyahu claimed that he planned to attack Iran in April. I have learned a long time ago not to believe a single word coming out of his mouth. He is the epitome of the old joke: How do you know if Netanyahu is lying? His lips are moving. He is a consummate liar, probably a pathological one.

With 53 hostages still in Gaza and Trump’s statements directly to Netanyahu to end the war and bring the hostages home, with the Haredi parties about to bring down the government in order to continue their unconscionable army exemptions during the worst period in our history, with soldiers being killed in Gaza and more reserves being called up, with the economy collapsing, and so many other nationally critical issues, Netanyahu does what he does best – diversion and calling it necessary for Israel’s immediate survival. The Haredi parties including Shas were going to vote no confidence in the government which would force elections. Without Shas, even if the other Haredi parties voted against the government, it would not have fallen. The Rabbis of Shas made a decision to vote with the rest of the Haredi parties. Isn’t it amazing that the only member of the Haredi parties who was told of the imminent attack on Iran was none other than Aryeh Deri, the head of Shas and a close confidant of Netanyahu? Following that, with little surprise Shas said they would not vote against the government and a ‘compromise’ was reached regarding the sanctions against Haredi draft dodgers and another Haredi party followed suit. If nothing else, Netanyahu is a master of staying in power.

Yes, the attacks on Iran are incredibly impressive. Yes, much of the world is quietly hoping that this war will bring about a total paradigm shift regarding the Axis of Evil led by Iran and potentially bring down the regime of the Ayatollahs, but the timing of this war is so very wrong. This should never have been only an Israeli war, there should have been an alignment of allied powers fighting this war with us; the war in Gaza should have ended with the return of all of the hostages first and foremost. The hostages once again have been pushed, not to the back burner but off of the stove altogether, and not by accident. Netanyahu wanted the pressure of ending the war and the hostages removed from his table. Trump was once again turning up the heat and an attack on Iran was coordinated with him. Trump loves strong men and strong, harsh actions taken against his enemies and Netanyahu was in line with Trump’s strong man ideal and the pressure of Gaza immediately disappeared.

In a short lived news blurb over the weekend, it was just announced that the war cabinet that decided on this war approximated several thousand killed in retaliatory strikes from Iran. For perspective, if we are talking about 3000 dead in Israel, this equals 90,000 in the US. At present, we have about 30 known killed in Iranian missile strikes and massive damage that has never been seen in Israel before, ever.

It is unfathomable to me that these ‘leaders’ of a failed and corrupt government could make this decision to attack Iran with an estimate of several thousand people who could potentially be killed in retaliation. This is one of the most irresponsible and absolutely criminal decisions that they could have made.

It is almost universally known and understood that the timing of this attack was purely part of ‘Netanyahu’s War for Political Survival’. Netanyahu does what he does best – diversion and calling it necessary for Israel’s immediate survival.
There is still the war going on in Gaza with soldiers being killed and injured every single day but all focus is on Iran and there are almost no news reports about Gaza in any of the Israeli press except for the soldiers killed and some that get injured. Here again, Netanyahu has succeeded in diverting everyone’s attention from the swamp he is keeping us in in Gaza.

There are those who cling to a hope that the war in Iran will help to bring our hostages home. “There are two opposing scenarios here,” says Anat Angrest, mother of the hostage Matan Angrest, “either this campaign in Iran will continue for a long time and push aside what is happening in Gaza, which will leave the campaign there open. It is clear that this can go on for a long time and they will completely forget that our hostages are there – that they do not have time and some of them have already died because they do not have time. The opposite scenario, which I at least try to draw hope from, is that this time the campaign is planned and it is part of the strategy to weaken the main enemy – Iran – which also influences our ability to conduct the war in Gaza.”

I can understand the miniscule hope that the families of the hostages must hold on to despite all they see around us. The hope that with the major successes in Iran, Netanyahu will finally be able to claim ‘total victory’ in Gaza, end the war and bring the hostages home. Unfortunately, I don’t share any of this tiny hope that this war with Iran will do anything to benefit the hostages return. Ending the war in Gaza, even with the glory Netanyahu is feeling and reaping with Iran, will still mean major demands for a State Commission of Inquiry of October 7 and all that led up to it. Yes, Netanyahu probably feels confident that the calls for early elections won’t be biting at his tail as they would have before Iran but he is still deathly afraid of a State Commission of Inquiry and that will prevent his stating that the war can end. He needs the war to continue, at least for another 4-6 months. The timing is critical for his future.

Netanyahu has fulfilled so many of his dreams in this attack and had no consideration for the fall out. His family is fully protected in bunkers and catered to like a royal family. Yes, his son had to postpone his wedding but that is small change for Netanyahu’s goals.  He is going to fully use the successes of the Mossad and Air Force as his personal successes and use them in his narrative to rewrite and erase October 7 as much as possible. Almost no one is talking about the hostages or Gaza or humanitarian aid or what happens when the war in Gaza does finally end.
Netanyahu prevented the fall of his government over the military exemptions. The Knesset will go on summer recess very soon and when they come back in the fall, the holidays will follow shortly thereafter, bringing us to the beginning of 2026. The elections are officially scheduled for October 2026 but most already recognize that we will go to early elections sometime in the first quarter of 2026 which totally fits Netanyahu’s schedule. I have no doubt that his PR people are already hard at work putting together his personal election package which will be filled with Iran, Lebanon and Syria and October 7 will be no more than a tiny footnote, if anything at all. Netanyahu and his people have no restraints and no low is too low if it serves Netanyahu’s personal political survival and rebuilding of his legacy. Never have we had such a dangerous and fully self-serving person as Prime Minister.

He has used the hostages for his political goals and hasn’t stopped. Last week, he stated that there would be big news about the hostages ‘today or tomorrow’, and then he backtracked with his office stating that it was only a figure of speech. Then 2 days before the attack on Iran, he once again stated that major movement has been made in the negotiations. Both of these statements were lies at the expense of the hostage families who pin their dire hopes on every word that Netanyahu says about their loved ones. He has no compunction about driving stakes into their hearts to serve his personal needs. Even now, he continues with his dribble about an interim agreement that will bring a very limited number of hostages home but the war will continue because he simply refuses to end his War of Political Survival.

With the possibility of the government falling, I and others had a hope that Netanyahu would declare his ‘total victory’ in about a month and a half before new elections, end the war and bring all the hostages home because it would mesh with his political needs prior to the election. That hope is dashed. So is the hope that Trump will pressure him to end the war. Trump is elated over Iran, even though he is being faced with the great dilemma of whether or not the US will have to enter the war as well. So, Trump is diverted from the hostages and Gaza and, at best will issue tiny statements that the war should end but with nothing behind them.

So where are we? That is the $64,000 dollar question. Netanyahu has become a specialist in beginning wars but a total failure at ending them. There is no end game and most likely, the US will need to step in to bring about a diplomatic solution as all wars must end with a diplomatic solution. And where do the hostages fit in?

We, the Israeli public cannot allow Netanyahu and his failed, corrupt government to allow them to slip out of the public eye by Netanyahu’s diversion tactics and we mustvcontinue to pressure every single member of the coalition, protest outside of their homes, calling out the names of the hostages as soon as the Home Front command allows us to go back to protesting and make sure that the press does not forget the hostages. It is unforgiveable that the press does not keep them on the front page every single day. Yes, I know that Iran is the hot topic, the missile damage and deaths are the top news, but the hostages are the heart and soul of our nation, our redemption, our ability to heal and our future. #BRING THEM HOME NOW!

“I’ve never met them,
But I miss them.
I’ve never met them,
but I think of them every second.
I’ve never met them,
but they are my family.
BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”