by Emanuel Shilo, editor of Besheva weekly , translated by Hillel Fendel.
1. Why oh
why, many are asking, did we agree to enter into negotiations with Hamas and consent
to give them almost everything they wanted at such an early stage of the deal?
In general, it is hard to avoid the impression that the push to
reach a deal right there and then, and the cave-in to the pressure of the media
and the "Bring Them Home!" groups, caused our negotiators to wage the
negotiations in a rushed and most unprofessional manner. Perhaps we would have
done a lot better had we sent to Qatar and Egypt not the senior figures in our
security establishment – Gen. Nitzan Alon, Shabak chief Ronen Bar, and Mossad
head Dedi Barnea – but seasoned and savvy businessmen or lawyers.
The price is unfathomable. What could have justified the exponential
jump from the fairly reasonable price we paid for the release of some of our
hostages at the end of 2023 and the outrageous price we are now paying? The gap
is huge, in terms of the number – and quality – of terrorists we are releasing
for each hostage, the number of ceasefire days that the enemy will use to rearm
and rebuild itself, and of course the dangerous precedent of our concession of
strategic assets that we won with the blood of our soldiers.
2. But beyond that: Is it not obvious that when
and if one has to deal with a cheat and liar, one must ensure that he leaves
sufficient assets in his hands to ensure that the other side carries out its part
of the deal? Why did we agree to pay in full even before receiving the promised
goods? How could we have allowed the Gazan population to return to northern
Gaza, and agreed to withdraw our forces from the Netzarim axis, at such an
early stage of the deal? We could have agreed, in the first stages, to call a
ceasefire, to release terrorists, and to allow even more humanitarian aid – while
retaining the cards that were so important to Hamas, such as the return of the
population to northern Gaza and the IDF's withdrawal from Netzarim, until after
the all our living hostages were freed.
Another elementary rule is that our enemy is not to receive live
terrorists in exchange for dead bodies; only dead terrorists are to be given
over in exchange for our corpses. This principle - one of the conclusions of
the Shamgar Committee that was established in 2008 after the Gilad Shalit deal
to set guidelines for future hostage exchanges - is both just and smart, for it
motivates the abductors to preserve the lives of those they have kidnapped. For
some inexplicable reason, in exchange for several corpses in the coming days,
Israel will release all the women and minors who were arrested in Gaza ever
since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the massacre.
Certainly bringing deceased Jews to proper Jewish burial is a
great Torah commandment and value. But it cannot justify the future danger to
lives inherent in the release of murderous terrorists. We have in our hands
many "valuable" terrorist corpses, such as that of Yichye Sinwar. If
the negotiations had been handled correctly, all of our dead hostages could
have been attained in exchange for Sinwar's cadaver, with perhaps a few more
thrown in for good measure. It's true that ultimate justice requires that his
remains be lost forever in the sea, as we did with the ashes of Eichmann and
the Americans did with Bin-Laden. However, for the sake of Jewish burials for
our dead hostages, we could have compromised on that point.
Of course, it's not only the negotiators' fault, but also that of
our Prime Minister and other government minister who approved the deal. We can
be happy at least that from now on, Minister Ron Dermer will replace the failed
negotiators and head our negotiating team.
3. Another missed opportunity
– so far – was the threat last week by Israel's friend U.S. President Donald
Trump that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas did not release
at least the three hostages it promised to free this past Saturday. Given that the
"excuse" for the current agreement was pressure by the incoming Trump
Administration, there is no reason that Trump's support for a strong Israeli
reaction should not be utilized now to extricate ourselves from this terrible
deal.
That is, now that this past Saturday noon did not see a full
release of all the hostages, we have a green light from Trump to attack Hamas
again with abandon. With full American backing, a new Defense Minister who
thinks differently than his predecessor, and a new Chief of Staff, this is the
time to wage the ultimate offensive that will achieve the war aims of
destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages – as well as the new goal of
transferring the Gazan population to other countries, in the spirit of the Trump
vision.
[Ed. note: We now know that Hamas has agreed to release six living
hostages this coming Saturday, in addition to four corpses beforehand and
another four afterwards. It is therefore far from certain that the writer would
call for an immediate Israeli attack under these circumstances.]
4. The war
objective of dismantling the Hamas regime should be done in three stages.
First, Israel must take over all of Gaza and establish a military
administration that will control, among other things, the distribution of food
and humanitarian aid to the populace. When the Gazans are no longer dependent
on Hamas for food, and are no longer threatened by Hamas, they are more likely
to cooperate with Israel and provide information for the release of the
hostages and the capture of the Hamas leaders.
Secondly, any Gazan who wants to leave should be helped to do so.
Pres. Trump has laid his prestige on this initiative, and will be of great
assistance to this end.
And thirdly, the IDF must wage war on all fronts in Gaza
simultaneously. The only agreement that can ever be made with Hamas is its
surrender, in which all the hostages, dead or alive, are returned safely. If we
allow Hamas to end this war with a victory of any type, the chance that it will
return all our hostages is microscopic, for they serve to guarantee that Israel
will not continue to attack and destroy Hamas.
If we muster up the strength, courage and resourcefulness to resume the military effort with a new spirit, there is a very good chance that Hamas will reach its moral breaking point very quickly and will agree, from lack of choice, to hand over all the hostages to us as part of its surrender.