We Leave No One Behind

Pidyon Shvuyim.

Before you are asking me what the hell this means, pidyon shvuyim, I am leaving a link so you can read about it. It is one of the most important Jewish commitments, and our Talmud emphasises its important in different ways. The importance of bringing back our brothers and sisters who have been taken captive by enemies. There are different interpretations (as always) and principals that are supposed to determine how much and what will be given in return. Partly not to encourage the enemy to use the taking of hostages as a method to get something in return (we will get to that later).
But no one will argue about the fact that this is one of the most important mitzvoth in Judaism.
But even before we think about the spiritual meaning of this mitzvah, nowadays, it goes far beyond that. It is an unwritten agreement between the state of Israel and its people- we serve you, and you will take care of us. We need to know that in case of this kind of tragedy- the state will not leave us behind.
I have to say as well, that another important principal of mutual responsibility is something that has been a pilar of our society, especially during and after the massacre of October the 7th. All Jews are responsible for one another, a principal which I hold dearly. We are taking care of each other. This doesn’t come to say that we don’t have strong disagreements, but in the end- we are taking care of each other.

Well, most of us.
In the past 15 months since the war started, the extreme right factions of the Ben Gvir’s of the world (he didn’t invent this sort of twisted reality, he was an admirer of Meir Kahane, and if he wasn’t extreme enough, Ben Gvir reinvented it by behaving in such despicable ways, that Substack can’t contain).
His camp, made mostly from settlers but not only, was bragging this week about the MULTIPLE times they have managed to prevent a hostage deal with Hamas. These people, who wear yarmulkes on their heads, are the opposite of what it means to be Jewish. Ben Gvir or Smotrich- none of them served in the IDF- Ben Gvir because the IDF didn’t want him (he was a violent thug since he learned how to talk or walk), and Smotrich also just became a grandfather (he is 44) from a son that didn’t serve in the IDF- but HE is the one to tell the hostage families that their loved ones are not important to save as the goal of resettling Gaza.

During the last 15 months there have been a lot of talking and not a lot of doing with this hostage deal. More than half a year ago, when we could have saved Hersh, and Eden, and all the rest Hamas murdered- the same deal was on the table.
What has changed since then? Well, Trump.

Netanyahu is not only pressured by the far right fractions of his government, but also by his “base”. And he wants to show to his base that he doesn’t cave to the pressure from the American government. Now- it is true that Hamas is to blame as well for this deal not happening then, and even now- at these crucial moments, they are still trying to see what they can squeeze from the Israelis.
But- he could have made this deal work last May, and this is something that many people in Israel are very angry about. Now he is framing this as this is what Trump demands.

Now let us put the cards on the table.
This deal is not a good deal to Israel. It allows Hamas (in principal, we don’t know what will happen in the next stages of the negotiations) to reestablish themselves in Gaza, terrorise the Gazans into submission, and rebuild their military power.
It also involves the release of more than 1000 Palestinian prisoners, more than fifth of them are in jail with life sentences, which means they have blood on their hands.

One of the things that are important to understand about this deal, is that these prisoners are the last thing that interests Hamas. They don’t care for them as they don’t care for their civilian population- these are all pawns in their Jihad as means to an end.
The only thing that interests them is their ability to stay in power in Gaza.

What will help them stay in Gaza? The retreat of the IDF from key positions. One of them is the Netzarim corridor. This is a barrier that Israel created in order to prevent Palestinians to move back to the northern part of the Gaza strip- the area where Hamas concentrated a lot of its activity.
The second one is called the “Philadelphi corridor”- which is a long strip of land between Israel and Egypt- where a lot of smuggling activity was going on for many years.
There is also the Rafah crossing, which beside being the subject of the most stupid meme on social media in the history of memes (all eyes on Rafah that apparently is situated in the snowy mountains, somewhere on the computer of a troll in Asia) is also one of the places where most of Hamas’s weapons and human trafficking were going on for many years).
If all goes well, Israel will partially retreat from these places. This will mean that more than million Palestinians would be allowed to go back to whatever is left of their homes in the north, but as we already saw yesterday- it also means that all the Hamas terrorists who were hiding in between civilians in the “humanitarian zones” will be able to move with them.
One of the most important details that Israel insisted on, was that Hamas will release the living hostages first. The assumption is that from the 33- 23 are still alive. The first ones to be released are women, and children. The only children left are Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped with their parents. If they won’t be back in the first week, we will know that they are not alive. There was no sign of life or clear sign of their death, but what the IDF is ready to say is that “there is a serious concern for their lives”. And we have learned in time that some words are being used as code for something else. Hamas, the scumbags that they are also don’t agree to mention who is alive and who isn’t. They will squeeze the nerves of the Israeli public until the last moments. Terrorists. Always were, and always will be.

Now let us talk about the title of this post.
When I am saying that this is a bad deal for Israel, it’s not only because of the immediate implications of letting Hamas have some of the things they want.
It is also establishing the notion that kidnapping civilians, non combatants - is a method that they, and in the future every terror organisation under the planet will use as a mean of extortion. Hamas and in general the Jihadists of the Middle East (and not only them) have been using this method for many years. From kidnapping airplanes, to kidnapping soldiers, and kidnapping civilians.
Through all this time- most of the world’s pressure was not on Hamas to release the hostages. Almost no one was demanding them to free these people they kidnapped from their beds on Saturday morning, during a Jewish holiday. They did demand from Israel though- not to get into Rafah during Ramadan.
World leaders, Tentifadas in universities, and also your nearest vegan Belgian “influencers” who, for some reason, care more for chickens than humans being held under the ground for the sin of being Jewish. And believe me- my memory is better than one of an elephant in this case. I am far from being a vindictive person but on this matter, I am like a rat on cocaine in the lab. And like them, I will also binge on Oreo’s and peanut butter.

What if.
What if the world’s pressure would be put on Hamas as it was put on Israel.
What if the president of the ICJ, who was so happy to accuse BB and Galant with genocide, would not become the new prime minister of Lebanon (and I am sure that he managed to go through this trial without any biases).
What if the International Red Cross, which didn’t bother to visit any of the hostages would do its job and visit at least the hostages who are sick and injured.
What if UNRWA would have served as a real humanitarian aid organisation and not another branch(s) of Hamas or other Jihadi cause. And what if the many states that give them billions of tax payers money would admit that this money has been diverted to fund terror.
So many what ifs.

In the end- the most important thing is to bring our brothers and sisters home. They have endured the unimaginable. They still are, and who knows when the rest of the 60 hostages, still rotting in Hamas’s tunnels will be back.
This is the meaning of Pidyon Shvuyim, this is the meaning of “Kol Israel Arevim Ze Laze”. We care about our people, we cherish life, we cherish our time and place on earth, and mostly, we just want the world to leave us the hell alone. And if someone do not understand why we are the way we are, they need to take a long look back on our history to understand that we are being hated, chased and killed for centuries just for being who we are. This is why we are taking care of each other.

Before I was running away from my social media account yesterday, I managed to see already the twisted reality of the pro Hamas’s idiots, claiming that the Palestinians have won the war. And I am asking them:
Really? Is this how victory looks like? Tens of thousands dead? Hamas’s terrorists discover that there is no thing such as heaven and no virgin is waiting for them?
The land is destroyed, there is no way for most people to find their houses standing, or their workplaces? Or any prospects for a normal future in the coming years? If ever?
What exactly did you win?

Some people were saying, and rightly so, that people who claim that they have been suffering a genocide while claiming victory, do not understand logic thinking.
You can’t claim that you have suffered a genocide, while claiming that you won the war. I already saw a picture that has been shared all over the place, of a young Palestinian, probably Hamas’s fresh recruitment, sitting on a couch in the middle of the rubble with a cup of tea “I survived the genocide”. An ode to Sinwar picture on the couch maybe? The big freedom fighter who brought the worst disaster on the Palestinian people, ever?

And just to make things clear- in this war- there are no winners. Who won exactly? The families of the deceased? The ruined communities? Our sense of basic morals and the wisdom to know the difference between what war actually looks like and what is a genocide? Or how an actual freedom fighter looks like (hint, he doesn’t rape, kill and mutilate women while bragging about it online).
Or did they just discover that war is hell? And that people are dying in wars, en mass?

What I know is this. The wars with the Palestinians are far from over. Yes, there is a big shift in the way that the Middle East looks like at the moment, and what The IRGC is calling axis of resistance are much weaker for the moment.
But until there will be leaders, brave enough, to lead the way into a sustainable peace in the region- the next war is right around the corner. I don’t even know if this ceasefire will hold itself for the 42 coming days.

The hostages don’t have this time. They are dying with each and every day passing.
We have to bring them all back, this is our obligation and duty. And in a twisted world which is putting the pressure on us instead of the perpetrators of this disaster - we need to take care of them. This is why this deal should happen, and this is why we need to do everything we can to bring the rest of them home.

I was thinking about a song to end this post. I have been listening in the passing days to the song “Lemacharat” (The Day After) of Leah Goldberg. I didn’t find a translation of it in English. It is a song about waiting, for something. And how complicated it is.
Yehudit Ravitz, one of Israel’s best singers is performing the song, and I think you will be able to enjoy it even if you don’t understand the words.

I will be holding my breath in the coming days, as all of us in Israel.
Bring them home. Alive.