RSS
Justice for the Hostages Will Only Come When We Demand More of Ourselves and Our Leaders
A combination picture shows undated handout images of hostages Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, and Almog Sarusi, who were kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks, and whose bodies have been found underground in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip and returned to Israel, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. Photo: Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/Handout via REUTERS
In the wake of the horrific September 11 attacks in 2001, Queen Elizabeth II sent a condolence message to the families of the 250 British victims, telling them that “grief is the price we pay for love.”
I arrived in Israel earlier this week, and as I stepped into the warm, balmy air outside Ben Gurion Airport, the late Queen’s words really resonated. This is my fifth visit to Israel since October 7th, and the grief here is palpable.
Each visit reveals a country in collective mourning for innocent lives lost and brutal violence endured. But last weekend, this grief took on a sharper edge, embodied by a name that has come to symbolize both hope and despair: Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Hersh’s story is one of unyielding love that has now turned to unbearable grief. A 24-year-old American Israeli, born in Berkeley, California, and raised in Jerusalem, Hersh’s life was filled with promise. But on October 7th, while attending the Nova music festival near the Gaza border, he became a victim of Hamas’s savage attack.
The terrorists killed hundreds of revelers and took dozens hostage, including Hersh. While hiding in a shelter, a grenade thrown by the terrorists severed Hersh’s arm. Although he survived, Hersh was taken captive, the stump of his arm crudely bandaged as he was thrown onto a pickup truck — a moment captured and broadcast around the world.
Over the past 11 months, Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon, became tireless advocates for their son’s release. American-born Jews who moved to Israel 16 years ago, they traveled the globe, knocking on every door, speaking to anyone who would listen.
They met with US President Joe Biden, Pope Francis, and other world leaders. Just weeks ago, they highlighted Hersh’s plight at the Democratic Party Convention — not as another statistic, but as a vibrant young man with wonderful dreams, a loving family, and a bright future.
Rachel and Jon’s fight was not just for Hersh, but for every hostage held by Hamas. But last weekend, their relentless efforts ended with tragedy. As Shabbat began, they turned off their phones, holding onto the hope that their son might soon be released.
But when they turned their phones back on after Shabbat, they were confronted with devastating news: Hersh’s body had been found in a tunnel under Gaza, alongside five other hostages, all of them executed at close range just before IDF rescue teams could reach them.
The grief of Hersh’s loss is immense. His story is not just his own; it is the story of every hostage, every family clinging to hope, and every Israeli living amidst fear and uncertainty. It is the story of Jews worldwide facing a resurgence of virulent antisemitism, and of those who see Israel’s struggle against Hamas as a frontline battle between good and evil.
Hersh’s parents’ relentless fight to secure his release — their heartbreak and despair — mirrors the struggle of every person in the free world committed to defeating evil and restoring justice.
Hersh’s death is not just a singular tragedy; it starkly illustrates the stakes in the ongoing conflict with Hamas, against those who favor violence as the only means to advance their agenda. The murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages, moments before they could have been rescued, accentuates the cruelty that Israel and the civilized world are up against.
But beyond that, Hersh’s story reveals a broader failure: the failure of leadership — both in Israel and globally — to protect the innocent and stand firmly against terror.
Parshat Shoftim speaks directly to the themes of justice and leadership. Moses commands the Israelites to appoint judges and officers to uphold justice, declaring (Deut. 16:20): צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף — “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”
According to the commentaries, the repetition of the word “justice” underscores the significance of justice, not just as an ideal in itself, but as a principle that requires utter integrity in its pursuit.
In the context of Hersh’s murder, these words resonate deeply. We have seen failures of leadership on multiple fronts. While everyone claims to want justice, frustration with the international community’s willingness to engage with Qatar and Hamas, and the Israeli government’s clumsy handling of hostage negotiations has grown. Reports of missed opportunities for deals that might have freed Hersh and others have only added to this outrage.
It was in this context that Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered a heartfelt apology at Hersh’s burial. Speaking with a broken heart, Herzog apologized “on behalf of the State of Israel” for failing to protect Hersh and the other hostages and for not doing more to bring them home.
His words struck a deep chord with a nation coming to terms with its leaders’ failures. “We failed you,” Herzog admitted, echoing the regret felt by many.
In stark contrast to these failures, Rachel and Jon’s advocacy embodies the pursuit of justice that Shoftim demands. They showed that their son’s life and the lives of the other hostages are not bargaining chips or political pawns; all the young men and women in Hamas hands are precious souls worth every effort to save. Crucially, Rachel and Jon’s dignity in the face of unimaginable grief is a powerful reminder of the kind of righteousness that goes well beyond platitudes.
The tragic loss of Hersh and the other hostages forces us to reflect on our own responsibilities. The call to “pursue justice” is clearly not passive; it demands courage, clarity, and moral conviction.
Virtue signaling and hollow gestures — like the Histadrut’s ill-conceived call for a labor strike — accomplish nothing beyond momentary headlines. And Prime Minister Netanyahu’s platitudinous apologetics and blame-shifting are particularly difficult to take. His approach, which has sadly been marked by evasion rather than accountability, is not leadership.
True leadership is not about projecting toughness or finding scapegoats; it is about having the courage to show vulnerability, admit mistakes, and take responsibility.
Rachel and Jon have demonstrated what real leadership looks like: a combination of relentlessness — knocking on every door, speaking into every ear, and never giving up hope, even when the path is dark — and, most importantly, doing so with integrity and dignity.
Without allowing themselves to get drawn into the fray, Rachel and Jon demanded justice not just for their son, but for every hostage and every innocent life ensnared in terror.
Ultimately, justice for Hersh Goldberg-Polin and all the hostages will not come from ill-conceived labor strikes or cleverly-worded speeches, nor will it come from carefully curated words aimed at gaining electoral votes, or a proliferation of likes on social media. It will only come when we, as a community and as a nation, recognize our duty to demand more from ourselves and from our leaders.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post Justice for the Hostages Will Only Come When We Demand More of Ourselves and Our Leaders first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.