Anyone who can write a learned essay predicting what will happen in the world tomorrow or a week from now—let alone a month or a year—is not a brilliant thinker but a presumptuous fool. We are in uncharted waters. In Israel, after more than 17 months of battle, hundreds of IDF casualties and more than 1,000 civilian deaths, our genocidal enemy still holds our citizens hostage, bizarrely dictating terms as they sit among the rubble of their decimated terrorist kingdom.
We gave them that power over us. Is it admirable that we are willing to open our jails to free mass murderers, people who blew up the Park Hotel, who murdered the Fogel family, who raped and beheaded a 17-year-old religious girl? Or is it despicable weakness and catering to political pressure? And if we finally give in to their demand that we leave the Gaza Strip, will that be the ultimate sacrifice for human life, or the ultimate collapse of our will to exist?
So far, Israel has firmly refused to leave Gaza with Hamas still intact, its pockets open for the flood of international billions that will no doubt come pouring in unimpeded the moment Hamas declares victory and its intention to rebuild. Such a scenario would be a disaster for Israel, whose nine million people would be in the direct firing line of homicidal jihadist maniacs and Hitler-worshippers once more.
And yet, over and over, our prime minister dutifully sends out his “negotiators.” What is there to discuss besides how, and at what pace, we shall commit suicide and destroy our safety and security by leaving the hard-won battlefields of Gaza?
There is an insoluble problem here. Trump-appointed negotiator Adam Boehler didn’t see it: “I think that we can reach a deal between what Hamas and Israel want which will allow the release of the hostages,” he told CNN. He was dreaming, and has since been sidelined.
What Hamas wants and what Israel wants are diametrically opposed. To paraphrase a line from the musical Chicago, we see ourselves alive; they see us dead.
Don’t misunderstand me. I think President Trump and his entire administration are probably the most pro-Israel in history, and we have taken much strength and encouragement from their nurturing statements in our support. Trump had us at “Release the hostages or all hell will break loose.” But the shocking news that he tried to negotiate directly with Hamas to release American hostages, basically behind our backs, battered Israel still further. U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff has since restored some clarity, firmly rejecting Hamas’s offer to release only the American hostage and remains. (Thank you, Mr. Trump.)
Many countries have negotiated directly with Hamas for the release of their kidnapped citizens. Why not America? Because we like to think, especially with Trump finally in the White House, that America is family. Our family wouldn’t leave hostages who are citizens of Israel behind to save their own.
The unspoken truth that is so painful for Israelis to contemplate is that in order to do what is necessary for Israel’s well-being, we may have to sacrifice the remaining hostages.
The Bibi talking points of “winning the war and saving the hostages” have been sounding hollow for some time now. This inability to face the hard reality of our choices has brought the country to its knees. My neighbor, who has three little kids and spent months as a reservist fighting in Gaza, has been called up again. My grandson also spent time in training just last week. All of them have been called up for the purpose of releasing hell on Gaza and finally ridding us of the death cultists on our borders. The longer that takes to happen, the longer my neighbor’s wife has to cope alone with the kids and my grandson’s new wife has to cope without her husband. And the entire country has to put off its dream of finally going back to normal, whatever “normal” will look like post-October 7.
We need closure. Our entire country was traumatized by the horror of the fate of the Bibas family. The coffins holding the strangled, battered corpses of those two darling babies and their mom haunt our dreams. Add to that the testimonies of hostages released alive, and the daily (wrongheaded in my opinion) release of information on what went wrong with our military and our government on October 7, and every single Israeli needs the catharsis of a clear victory to go on as a nation.
For in many ways, these events are a replay of the Holocaust. What Israelis need now more than anything is to see that the Zionist dream with its promise of security for the Jewish people is real and not a fantasy, and that this time our antisemitic murderers will finally pay for what they’ve done, and pay in full. That is the only end possible for our nation. And that outcome is non-negotiable.
Naomi Ragen lives in Zichron Yaakov, Israel, and is the author of 14 novels, most recently The Enemy Beside Me.
Great opinion piece. We are dealing with another nazi Germany, and history shows how to deal with such a nation. All Moslem nazis must be destroyed and all potential nazis must beware.