Connect with us

RSS

Israel’s Hostage Dilemma: In Search of the World’s Understanding and Respect

Supporters and family members of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, hold lit torches during a protest ahead of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shir Torem

“As soon as you settle in America, gather your children, and go to Israel. Then, once you see that land, I want a letter from each of you, telling me in detail how it is over there.”

Those were the words of my grandfather, Misha, the family’s great patriarch, who was born in a tiny shtetl near Vitebsk in 1902 into the family of a rabbi.

He grew up to become an important surgeon, fought in three wars, had most of his immediate family murdered by the Nazis, survived Soviet antisemitism, and finally outlived his wife and all his children, including my father.

My grandfather was a Jew by faith, by race, and by identity. He was a true Zionist who believed that Jewish destiny was not just in its religion, but also in its absolute right to be able to determine its own independent future. For him, as an unbreakable Soviet Jew, betrayed by his country’s promises about egalitarianism and equality, bruised by the most humiliating acts of antisemitism, he believed in the State of Israel, the only place in the world that would not compromise a Jewish life.

My grandfather carried that Zionist flame within him for the rest of his life, but never got to see his promised land. Years and years later, I traveled there on his behalf, but I fell in love with it all on my own.

Jews in Israel learned not to compromise. They defended their state, so their land would never be taken, and their children would never be without a home. Israel knew how to listen to its own voice — until 2011, when Gilad Shalit, held captive by Hamas for 1,934 days, was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian and Arab-Israeli prisoners. Of these, 280 were sentenced to life in prison.

Among them was Yahya Sinwar, serving four life sentences, who masterminded the October 7, 2023, attack.

As of late, while in the midst of its existential crisis, Israel is trying in vain to seek the world’s understanding and respect. It mistakenly believes it can achieve both. The world does not want to understand Israel, nor the Jewish plight within the context of Israel.

In 1976, Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France plane with Israeli passengers, diverting it to Entebbe, Uganda. Demanding prisoner releases, they threatened to kill hostages. Israel launched a daring rescue mission, freeing nearly all hostages but losing three in the process, including mission leader Yoni Netanyahu. The most heated debate took place before the actual resolution of this operation between then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who strongly believed in the deal in the absence of the military option, and Shimon Peres.

He later shared with his speechwriter Yehuda Avner : “When it comes to negotiating with terrorists, I long ago made a decision of principle, well before I became prime minister, that if a situation were ever to arise when terrorists would be holding our people hostage on foreign soil and we were faced with an ultimatum either to free killers in our custody or let our own people be killed, I would, in the absence of a military option, give in to the terrorists. I would free killers to save our people.”

Shimon Perez, on the other hand, who at the time was Israel’s Defense Minister, held a different view. To him “deal” meant giving in to hijackers for the first time in Israel’s history. Although we all know Perez as the ambassador of peace, during that crisis he strongly believed that negotiation with terrorists was off limits because it was not part of Israel’s make up.

He said: “If we give in to the hijackers’ demand and release terrorists, everyone will understand us but no one will respect us. If, on the other hand, we conduct a military operation to free the hostages, it is possible that no one will understand us, but everyone will respect us, depending of course on the outcome of the operation.”

Israel under Rabin was on the verge of negotiations, but once the IDF presented the military plan, the decision to proceed was made, despite the risk of casualties. Thus, another chapter in Israel’s history of rescue missions was written. This demonstrated to both its enemies and the unfriendly international community that Israel would not compromise its national integrity to gain society’s understanding and insincere sympathy.

Why does Israel’s usually unbreakable spirit seem so influenced by actors with, at best, marginal interest in it? This may sound naive, as Israel needs major players like the US. However, that shouldn’t justify pushing Israel into bad deals.

The October 7, 2023, attack presented Israel with its most devastating hostage crisis. As of February 10, 2025, eighty of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas remain in Gaza, with at least a third believed dead. Hasn’t Israel been here before? How could this deal be made after such a tragedy and most complex military operation, which drastically diminished Hamas?

There is intelligence that Hamas is regrouping; this cancer will grow. If Israel retreats after receiving hostages, some in body bags, it has every reason to anticipate a repeat of October 7th. Mothers embracing their children today may tomorrow be replaced by other mothers agonizing over their children’s fate all over again. The job of a parent is to shield their child from danger for as long as they can, but the job of a government, in this case the Israeli government, especially its leadership, is to protect the entire nation from all foreseeable danger, so that “Never Again” is Never Again FOREVER.

Throughout my life, first under the hypocritical iron fist of the Soviet empire and later as an immigrant in America, where some of the most important values and traditions of America’s greatness are too frequently compromised, I have always admired Israel, a nation salvaged from near extinction. I have revered Israel for its unwavering commitment to its core mission since its founding as a sovereign nation: the defense of its land and its people. For at least 63 years, it never faltered in this.

After the first three women were released this year, I heard: “Why not celebrate with them? They feared this day wouldn’t come. Celebrate with those young women!” or “Happy now? You got your deal, your hostages. Move on, stop this bloodshed.”

Frankly, it doesn’t concern me that non-Jews refuse to see this deal’s weakness; it saddens me that my people neglect how harmful it is for Israel and Jews.

As a human and mother, I want every hostage home, no matter the price. Seeing mothers with daughters breaks my heart with happiness, heartbreak, and disappointment. As a Jew, mother, and Zionist, these people are in hell because of deals like this, like 2011’s, which led to October 7th. Today’s rushed deal anticipates similar tragedies, different mothers lamenting, children orphaned. A new government will seek a new solution.

An understanding world is a luxury Jews and Israel cannot afford. To survive, Israel must fight.

The world will never understand or forgive a nation which, after losing 6 million to genocide, created its own state from the ashes and became a maverick of modern civilization. Had Jews and their promised land been losers, surrounded by enemies, swallowed by neighboring states, and become Israelis with a victimhood mentality, the world might have forgiven their roughness. But Israel’s story is different. The past 77 years, however difficult, have been a victory for Israel and every Jew there. Strong, courageous victors fighting for their people, knowing they are all potential hostages, these Israelis will never be sympathized with. All that remains is respect, existing without love or understanding, founded on reason. It would be impossible not to respect Israel’s refusal of weak deals — its only duty being to protect its country from future tragedies.

Anya Gillinson is an immigration lawyer and author of the new memoir Dreaming in Russian. She lives in New York City. More at www.anyagillinson.com

The post Israel’s Hostage Dilemma: In Search of the World’s Understanding and Respect first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Druze Religious Elders From Syria Make Historic Visit to Israel

People gather on the day Israeli Druze leader Sheik Mowafaq Tarif and around 100 Syrian Druze religious elders, in the first Druze delegation from Syria just after 1973 war, visit the Nabi Shuayb Shrine, a holy place for the Druze community, in northern Israel, March 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

A delegation of Druze religious elders from Syria crossed into Israel on Friday for the first such visit in more than 50 years, underscoring Israel‘s backing for the community amid growing tensions with the new government in Damascus.

Around 100 Druze sheikhs from villages on the slope of Mount Hermon in Syria, overlooked by the Golan Heights, are due to visit shrines including sites held to be the tomb of prophet Shuayb, west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee.

After entering the Golan Heights, cheered by Druze in traditional black clothes and white and red head dress, some waving the white, blue, yellow, red, and green flag of the Druze, they traveled by bus to the town of Julis in Israel to meet Mowafaq Tarif, spiritual leader of the group in Israel.

“Feeling proud and honored to visit here. We are one family and brothers,” said Nazeh Rakab, from Hadar in Syria, as he watched the welcome ceremony in Julis, where hundreds gathered to greet the delegation waving Druze flags, with some firing into the air from the rooftops in celebration.

The Druze, an Arab minority who practice a religion originally derived from Islam, live in an area straddling Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and the Golan Heights, connected across the borders by a web of kinship ties.

In Israel, many serve in the military and police, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached high rank.

Friday’s visit is intended to be a purely religious occasion, but its political significance was underscored by Israeli airstrikes on what Israel described as command centers of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad movement in Damascus a day earlier.

Israeli ministers have expressed deep misgivings about the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, describing his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a jihadist group. The group was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection.

On Thursday, Israel, which has been urging support for the Druze following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December, sent truckloads of aid including oil, flour, salt, and sugar, most to the southern province of Suwayda.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Syrian Druze would be allowed to enter and work in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war, and Israel has also said it would protect Druze in Syria if needed.

The post Druze Religious Elders From Syria Make Historic Visit to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Israel Rejects Hamas Offer to Free Israeli-American Hostage as ‘Psychological Warfare’

A Torah and a photograph of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, sit in his home during a family interview with Reuters in Tenafly, New Jersey, US, Dec. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to free an AmericanIsraeli dual national if Israel begins the next phase of ceasefire talks towards a permanent end to the war, an offer Israel dismissed as “psychological warfare.”

Hamas said it had made the offer to release New Jersey native Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army, after receiving a proposal from mediators for negotiations on the second phase of a ceasefire deal, which has halted major fighting since Jan. 19 but has been in limbo for two weeks.

The group said its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil Al-Hayya, was due to arrive in Cairo later on Friday for further ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators.

Since a temporary first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 2, Israel has rejected opening the second phase of talks, which would require it to negotiate over a permanent end to the war, the main demand of Hamas.

Israel says it wants to extend the ceasefire’s temporary first phase, a proposal backed by US envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas says it will resume freeing hostages only under the second phase.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s office called the offer to release Alexander “manipulation and psychological warfare.”

“While Israel has accepted the Witkoff proposal, Hamas stands by its refusal and has not budged a millimeter,” his office added. It said he would convene with his cabinet on Saturday night to discuss the hostage situation and decide on the next steps.

Israel has imposed a total blockade of Gaza since the first phase of the ceasefire expired without an agreement to begin the second phase on March 2.

Witkoff told reporters at the White House early in March that gaining the release of Alexander was a “top priority.” US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler met with Hamas leaders in recent days to seek Alexander’s release.

Two Hamas officials told Reuters their agreement to release Alexander and the four bodies was conditional on beginning the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire, opening crossings, and lifting the Israeli blockade.

“We are working with mediators for the agreement to succeed and to compel the occupation to conclude all phases of the agreement,” Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua, the Hamas spokesperson, told Reuters.

Hamas‘ approval to release Edan Alexander aims to push towards the conclusion of the phases of the agreement,” said Qanoua.

The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to bridge the differences between the Islamic terrorist group and Israel to restart negotiations in order to release remaining hostages held in Gaza and lift the blockade.

The war began when Hamas carried out a cross-border invasion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

The post Israel Rejects Hamas Offer to Free Israeli-American Hostage as ‘Psychological Warfare’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Why Israel Should Annex the West Bank

A boy walks home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kida, Aug. 31, 2010. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias

To annex or not to annex. That is the question. Should Israel annex Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank? Many Israelis would say yes. After all, Judea and Samaria comprise the very core of the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, plus it is vital for maintaining Israel’s security. Others, however, caution against it. And they have their reasons. The trouble is those reasons don’t stand up to scrutiny.

Those opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria say, for example, that there will be too much backlash from the international community, which will lead to a wide range of consequences for Israel. But of course, a lot of people said all hell would break loose when the US, under the first Trump administration, decided to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. Those people were obviously wrong. Israel suffered no major pushback from the international community. Similarly, the sky will not fall if the Jewish state declares sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

People opposed to annexing Judea and Samaria also argue that annexing the territory would severely harm Israel’s Jewish character because it would involve absorbing 3 million Palestinians. Admittedly, I naively believed this to be true at one time. But in fact, this argument doesn’t hold water.

For one thing, there aren’t 3 million Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. In fact, this figure is highly suspect because it comes from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The Palestinians have always had an interest in inflating their population numbers to build a case against Israel annexing Judea and Samaria.

Indeed, the PCBS includes in its population count some 500,000 Palestinian residents who are overseas. It also includes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are residents of Jerusalem and those married to Israeli Arabs, both of whom are included in Israel’s population figures. The truth is that the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria is closer to 1.85 million.

Moreover, if Israel was to annex Judea and Samaria, it would be under no obligation to give citizenship to every single one of the territory’s Palestinian inhabitants. But this would be practicing apartheid, right? Wrong. Many countries restrict eligibility for citizenship based on ethnicity, religion, etc. This is especially the case in the Arab world, where Palestinians in particular are excluded from citizenship in all but one country: Jordan, which, it should be noted, specifically bars Jews from becoming citizens.

In fact, in some Arab countries, acquiring citizenship is so restricted that the majority of residents are not citizens at all. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has a population of about 12.5 million, but just 11.5 percent are Emirati citizens. In Qatar, out of a population of just over 3 million, only 10.5 percent are citizens. And in Kuwait, with a population of approximately 4.9 million, expatriates outnumber citizens by 2 to 1. No one accuses these countries of being apartheid states, nor should they accuse Israel of practicing apartheid if it chooses not to bestow citizenship on Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

Israel can also choose not to annex the whole of Judea and Samaria. In fact, many proponents of annexation have said that Israel should just annex Area C, which is under complete Israeli control per the Oslo Accords. Area C, which contains all the communities that Israel has built in Judea and Samaria, has a Jewish majority. About 500,000 Jews live in Area C, compared to approximately 300,000 Palestinians. Thus, if Israel wanted to, it could bestow citizenship on the Palestinians of Area C with minimal impact on the country’s Jewish majority as a whole.

Another popular argument against annexation is that it would prevent a two-state solution. This argument is moot because the two-state solution is dead. It died on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages — while perpetrating widespread rape and torture in the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Besides, the main impediment to the two-state solution has never been the threat of annexation, but rather the refusal of the Palestinians to accept the existence of a Jewish state. This is why the Palestinians have refused every offer of statehood dating all the way back to the 1947 UN partition plan.

Since the two-state solution has finally died, it’s time we bury it — by annexing all or part of Judea and Samaria and bringing it under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in two millennia.

The author is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.

The post Why Israel Should Annex the West Bank first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News