And Then There Were 134

THE MORNING OF February 12 brought hope to rainy Israel. Some people even saw rainbows in the sky. Two hostages, Fernando Merman and Louise Har were evacuated from Hamas’ captivity. Merman and Har (60 and 70, respectively) were kidnapped on October 7 last year, the day of Hamas’ attack on Southern Israel, from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. After 129 days, they were released by the elite rescue unit Yamam. This opera­tion, in the heart of the city of Rafah, will be taught at military academies due to its complexity. When asked for their motivation to risk their lives to save the hostages, the Yamam soldiers replied with no hesitation that they thought of the hostages as if they were their own parents.

The Israeli mindset is to compare every hostage release operation to the historical Entebbe Operation of July 1976 in Uganda. On that mission, Israel rescued over 100 Israeli passengers who were hijacked on board an Air France plane and were held captive at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by Palestinian terrorists. The commander of this operation, who died during that raid, was Yonatan ‘Yoni’ Netanyahu, the heroic brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

To date, there are still 134 hostages in Hamas’ captivity, with 130 since October 7 and an additional four who have been there for years now. The estimate is that, of that number, 50 are no longer alive. The release of the two hostages mentioned earlier was amaz­ing and lifted the entire country’s morale. But soon, that happiness was replaced with sorrow and anger because the hostage release deal is not progressing fast enough, and a military operation can rescue a few but not all.

The hostages who returned during the ceasefire did not talk or disclose much—till now. Now they have started to share their stories, and especially the stories of the hostages who were left behind. Most devastating is the clear understanding that the young girls in captivity are suffering sexual abuse. The kidnappers humiliate the girls, force them to undress in front of them, force them to dress in inappropriate clothing, and treat many of them as sex slaves. The families of the hostages, who had trusted their govern­ment to do its best, are beginning to lose patience and their protests are becoming more violent. They are increasing the pressure on the government to make every effort to ensure the progress of the deal negotiated with the help of Qatar, the US, and Egypt.

Israel claimed that Hamas’ demands are unrealistic and refused to send a representative to the recent talks held in Cairo. Prime Minister Netanyahu is caught between the pressure from the hostages’ families and his far-right allies who refuse to accept any far-reaching pact to release the Israeli hostages in lieu of Palestinian terrorists with blood on their hands. The notion of “blood on their hands” refers to the terrorists who were found guilty of murder and were previously sentenced to life imprisonment. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich even dares to say in public that the hostages are of secondary importance. These far-right allies of Netanyahu are problematic also in the eyes of the Biden Administration. Itamar Ben-Gvir is the minister for internal security, which puts him in charge of the Israeli police. Smotrich, in addition to being finance minister, also holds a position in the defence ministry. Their unique positions of authority allow them to support the Jewish settlers in the West Bank while not taking real measures to stop violence against Palestinians in that region. The US decided to sanction the violent settlers. Measures taken by Washington include freezing their assets in the US; barring them from using bank accounts, even in Israel; and forbidding them from travelling to the US. This is the first time that the US is taking such extreme measures, signal­ling to Netanyahu that if he does not suppress the violence in the West Bank, America will act against those criminals.

The polls being conducted by Israeli TV channels are not in favour of Netanyahu, and at least half of the people polled think that he should resign at the end of the war. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats. In recent polls, Netanyahu’s popularity has declined. His Likud party received only 17-18 mandates (equal to seats) and the party of his op­ponent, Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, reached 37-40 mandates. The current opposition parties received 70-75 mandates in the polls, meaning that if the election were held today, Netanyahu would lose and Gantz would become prime minister.

It is fascinating to see that Labor—the party of Shimon Peres, David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin, the party that ruled Israel for decades—is now below the vote threshold to enter the Knes­set. Some people compare Israel’s Labor party to India’s Congress.

Although the pressure is felt both inside and out, Netanyahu is still strong and able to run his party and prevent its members from defecting to the opposition. The opposition is relentlessly seeking the defection of at least five Members of Knesset (MKs) from the ruling coalition in order to call a no-confidence vote. Netanyahu and his coalition understand that in order to stay in power, they need to stand together. Recently, Netanyahu came up with a new slogan: “We fight until total victory.” People are wondering what total victory means and how much time it will take. Some claim that the victory he is talking about is political in nature.

Whereas in Gaza the war is on and the Israeli army is fighting Hamas terrorists, life in central Israel is almost normal. Traffic is as heavy as usual, schools are open, the nightlife of Tel Aviv is as lively as ever, and rockets do not reach here anymore. But that does not apply to Northern Israel. Hezbollah from Lebanon continue their rocket barrage on a daily basis. The residents of Northern Israel evacuated from their homes immediately after October 7. Initially, they were afraid of an attack similar to October 7 coming from the north, across the border with Lebanon. However, their current fear is the heavy rocket attacks which have resulted in direct hits. Villages located up to 5 kilome­tres from the northern border and 7km from the southern border were requested to evacuate. But the rockets have reached even far­ther, and many fled their homes at their own expense. If residents do not live within the 5-7km security belts, they are not entitled to government financing of their alternative accommodation. The residents of the north and south are crying for help. They need alternative accommodation, education for their children, and employment. Many of the residents of these security belts are farmers whose livelihood depends on their land. Many of them are willing to take the risk and work their land under fire.

The protesters against the judicial reforms, who were very active until October 7, kept quiet through the first months of the war. As time passes, these groups are planning to resume their protest. And now, in addition to their previous causes, the omissions and mistakes of October 7 and of the period leading up to it are being added to their list too. At their side, the families of the hostages are taking off their gloves and protesting not just in the square in Tel Aviv that was named ‘The Hostages’ Square’. They have now also started to protest next to the prime minister’s residences in Jerusalem and Caesarea. The slogan of this week’s protest was: ‘134 Days-134 Hostages’. A few family members have begun hunger strikes. Many live in tents in the Hostages’ Square. They are not willing to continue with their regular lives until their loved ones are back. It is clear to all that the release of the hostages will not be by means of a rescue operation. Their release needs to be part of a pact. The question is: How wide will this pact be? Hamas is seeking a full ceasefire, as if October 7 didn’t happen. The Israeli government agrees to a short one and the release of Palestinians prisoners held by Israel.

The keys are in the hands of the US. As the elections in the US get closer, President Joe Biden is losing his patience and is pushing for an end to the war. What will be considered an end to the war, or how can this war end? Allegedly, the answer is simple: Hamas releases the hostages, its leaders are exiled from Gaza, Gaza is disarmed, a security zone is built between Israel and Gaza, the administration of Gaza is given to a non-Hamas council, and a neutral group made up of international armed forces manages the borders. The deployment is more difficult. Much more difficult. Hamas leaders are not rushing to put down their weapons and there is no agreed council to manage the Gaza Strip. When Biden pushes Netanyahu to end this war, he needs to come up with solutions.

Last week, Israeli TV covered the story of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier named Dor Almog who had survived a deadly collapse of a building in Gaza. His best friend, Amit Magnezi, was murdered on October 7 at the Nova music festival. Amit had a tattoo with the ‘Om’ symbol on his shoul­der. As a tribute to Amit, all his friends, including Dor, tattooed that same ‘Om’ symbol on their shoulders. When Dor was injured in the war and admitted to hospital, his whole body was burned. The only part that was not damaged was his right shoulder with the Om tattoo.

Benjamin NetanyahuBenny GantzGaza borderIsrael-HamasIsraeli hostages