As Israel faces the moral and strategic dilemmas of negotiating with Hamas for the release of hostages, public debate intensifies over what needs to be done.
These are searing times. But every Israeli is morally obligated to avoid political hysteria—depriving Hamas of propaganda victories. Claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu killed the hostages, and that he’s the obstacle to freeing the hostages, emboldens Hamas, thereby prolonging the hostages’ agony.
Bibi-bashers beware: If you hear yourself echoing a Hamas talking point, reconsider! The Wall Street Journal reports that last fall, recording their manipulative hostage videos, Aviva Siegel’s Hamas captors barked at her: “You didn’t say that Bibi needs to bring you back!” A recent Hamas strategy document, Bild reported, urges: “Continue to exert psychological pressure on the [hostage] families … so that public pressure on the enemy government increases.”
There’s much to debate and protest—without sacrificing subtlety, moral clarity, patriotism and common sense. Remember: Hamas murderers shot those six holy hostages, just as Hamas kidnappers and rapists abused them for 329 days.
Axios reports: A “US official” admitted that the “executions … called into question Hamas’ willingness to do a deal of any kind.” The Washington Post headlined on September 7: “Biden ceasefire push falters again after new demand by Hamas”—responding to Hamas’ “abrupt” demand that Israel exchange Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences for civilian hostages, not just Israeli soldiers in a later phase.
I know enough to know that I don’t know enough—regarding the hostages, our military progress, the remaining threats north, south, and Iran. There’s so much spin and posturing—from all sides The protesters’ certainty, and the certainty of their Channel 14 Bibista rivals, terrifies me. If you live with doubt, you can live with others. You acknowledge complexity, learn from differences, update presumptions, and even compromise.
However, when you’re convinced your fellow citizens—or political leaders—are absolutely wrong and ill-intentioned, you damage the delicate threads of social solidarity and political legitimacy democracies need to function, especially during wartime.
Facts and Theories
So let’s sift between facts, speculations and theories about what Israel should do next.
Fact—Hamas released 105 civilians in November, then stopped.
Speculation—Most believe that Hamas stopped to avoid releasing as many as 18 young women they abused. “It seems … that they don’t want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody,” the State Department’s Matthew Miller lamented.
Theory—Since then, I doubt Hamas will free any other hostages. Israel, therefore, must degrade Hamas militarily and close smuggling routes so Hamas can never rearm, while pressuring Gaza’s population to trigger Hamas’s collapse and force the hostages free.
Fact—Negotiations have dragged on since December—with leaks and rumors, information and disinformation, reported as clear facts.
Speculation—Protesters insist the only thing stopping Bibi from freeing the hostages is his fear of his right-wing coalition partners. Others insist Hamas will keep raising the price. Most fair observers recognize that Israelis—and our leaders—face excruciatingly difficult choices.
Theory—Given the confusion—and Hamas’s manipulations—reasonable people can disagree. Some would concede everything to save the hostages. Some object to leaving the Philadelphi border and the Netzarim corridor. Meanwhile, the government keeps juggling, trying to get the best deal without giving away too much to evil jihadists who keep making deals, breaking them, and rebuilding their arsenal and tunnels, while intensifying their Jew-hating, anti-Western ideologies.
As some friends protest, pressing the government to cave into Hamas’ demands, as some generals leak unpatriotically that Israel can leave Gaza, confident that we can return even though history suggests otherwise, I fear a bad deal. I’m with the 49% of Israelis who told Jewish People Policy Institute pollsters they want Israel to hold the Philadelphi Corridor to block smuggling routes.
We mourn each hostage’s death and agonize about their ongoing suffering. But we don’t know how many are alive, and worry about the 9.3 million Israelis, thousands of whom could be murdered if a deal weakens us militarily, or mass Hamas weapons smuggling resumes. And we don’t trust these murderers, rapists and kidnappers—especially if we read Hamas’ genocidal charter.
Tragically, this government, which can neither govern straight nor talk straight with the people, keeps dividing us. Although some protesters exploit the hostages to continue their longstanding anti-Bibi crusade, many others would not be protesting if Bibi’s credibility deficit didn’t keep growing and he addressed the people directly, with more humility, self-criticism, honesty and respect. That would put the moral onus on Hamas, not him.
After October 7, Israel needed a Churchill; instead, we got a cabinet of church mice, scurrying about, morally impoverished, and silent when it comes to articulating a vision that will unite the country and help us understand how we keep Hamas crushed in the South, restore our citizens to their homes in the North, and progress together as Israelis.
The ‘Generals’ Plan’
In this vacuum, we should debate the bold, edgy “Generals’ Plan.” Giora Eiland and other ex-generals propose besieging North Gaza, letting civilians flee, and then decimating the remaining terrorists while keeping Hamas away from the humanitarian aid it keeps stealing. Only supply shortages pushed Hamas to the last hostage deal, Eiland notes. The plan addresses international law, which allows you to besiege combatants, after letting civilians escape.
Last week, despite the most pointless of general strikes, and horrific recriminations from the Left and the Right, Israelis mourned together, jointly horrified by the six hostages’ slaughter.
Tragically, we don’t have a government capable of building on that unity. Instead, it remains addicted to divisiveness, which only feeds unreasonable extremists in opposition too.
The writer, a senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, is an American presidential historian. His next book, “To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream,” will be published on September 17.
