by Emmanuel Shiloh, editor of the Besheva weekly, translated by Hillel Fendel.
1. Two years ago on the Simchat Torah holiday, our traditional festive commemorations of the latest annual round of Torah reading and study were cut brutally short by the Hamas massacre of some 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 250 others. It was as if a Divine signal had been handed down from heaven, saying, "I don't want your dancing! 'Who asked this of you, to trample My courts?'" (Isaiah 1,12)
One year ago on Simchat Torah, many of us were engaged in trying to find the proper way to celebrate the holiday on the first anniversary of the largest calamity in Israel's history. Some thought we should dance even harder, some asked how we could dance at all, and others replaced (some of) the dancing with songs of sorrow and prayer.
Finally, this past Simchat Torah, last week, the joy returned. The previous year had seen great military and other successes, with G-d's help, including in Syria, Lebanon, and especially Iran. We were able to sense that the Master of the Universe had once again opened for us the gates of happiness. We entered the holiday fresh off the release of all 20 living hostages from their torturous two years of captivity – and we sang and danced with abandon.
Would it be that we remain in G-d's good graces and be worthy of His shining countenance. For this deal has clearly led us into a complicated situation, and much Divine assistance and human effort will be needed to conclude it positively. Among the major challenges that await us are: the return of all the deceased captives for burial in Israel, as Hamas committed to do but has not yet fully done; the dismantling of the Hamas regime; and the disarmament of Gaza.
Of course, the chances that this will happen are not high. Israel and the U.S. have bound themselves with political commitments, and Trump has firmly and repeatedly declared that the war is over. But after all the wonderful events we were blessed with between Simchat Torah 5774 and Simchat Torah 5776, we need not despair of prayers and hope for miracles and good surprises.
2. Jewish Law relates to complex situations that have aspects of both joy and sadness. For instance, one who is to inherit a large sum from a relative who has just died must recite two blessings: "The True Judge" on the sad news, and "He Who has brought us to this time" (Shehecheyanu) for the good news. Life is complicated, and sometimes our feelings are strongly mixed.
The current ceasefire deal is one of those situations. It is possible and
correct to oppose the deal, even as we rejoice at the freedom gained by our 20
brothers who were held in the tunnels of Hamas. There were even some rabbis who
ruled that both of the above blessings should be recited, given the release of
250 terrorist murderers from our prisons. For even those who support the
agreement certainly know and agree that freeing murderers in this fashion is
clearly immoral, infuriating, and very dangerous to Israelis around the
country.
3. It is sad to see how our national heart has become numb and insensitive to the release of terrorist murderers in the framework of such deals. The cruel killers of our fellow citizens should ideally have been executed – but given that they were only to sentenced to life imprisonment, at least they should have truly remained in prison until their death. The Torah sharply negates waiving a murderer's punishment for any type of ransom: "Do not accept ransom for the life of a murderer guilty of death; he shall be put to death" (Bamidbar 35,31). The moral injustice of releasing murderers is depicted as one that "defiles the Land" (ibid. 33,34). Even those who believe that saving lives overrides this prohibition – despite the danger that the lives being saved might later cost other lives – should at least feel the pain of defilement of the Land of Israel.
Another facet of the injustice: There are amongst us hundreds and
thousands of relatives of terrorist victims for whom the State of Israel has
given up on bringing their murderers to justice. Their blood has been rendered
not only cheap, but totally forsaken. Some of these relatives have expressed
willingness to pay this price for the sake of the hostages, but other have not.
The media is busy celebrating the return of the hostages, and does not focus enough
on the families' pain. We certainly do not hear any apologies for the sorrow
this deal causes them. People of Torah and ethics, people of justice – it
would be appropriate for you to sound you voices on this matter.
4. And this brings us to the multi-faceted security dangers inherent in the release of terrorist murderers. Firstly, these men are frightfully dangerous, able and willing to kill Jews yet again. Yihye Sinwar himself – mastermind of the Hamas massacre, for those who don't remember – was freed in a similar hostage deal several years ago. At least ten other Jews were murdered after that deal by terrorists who were freed then. What did we gain by liquidating the entire Hamas leadership over the past two years, if we are now freeing many more experienced and cruel potential Hamas masterminds?
Secondly, their release eliminates the deterrent effect of prison sentences on potential terrorists. Any young Arab who considers carrying out an attack will not fear being arrested, confident that sooner or later he will be released in a hostage deal.
And finally: The more we give in to the kidnappers' blackmail, the more they are encouraged to carry out additional abductions. We have now broken new records of caving to blackmail, agreeing not only to release murderers but also to give up on top-notch strategic achievements and goals, including retreating from Gaza cities. This increases the danger of further kidnappings. We all sighed in relief that, with the hostages home, we are now free to fight Hamas without fearing the fate of our brothers. But is it not clear that taking more hostages will be one of the first goals that Hamas will set for itself?
Can we at least hope that finally, now, the Shamgar Commission's recommendations from 2012 – restraining the government's freedom to decide to release crazy numbers of terrorists in exchange for hostages – will finally be adopted?
The entire Nation of Israel – especially those who demanded this deal
with shouts and insults, as well as the politicians who caved to their pressure
– must ask themselves what they are doing to thwart the next kidnapping.
Otherwise, the next kidnapping is much too close for comfort.
5. Though this war brought us some achievements, this was not the conclusion for which we prayed and hoped. The return of all the deceased hostages is far from guaranteed, Hamas is still in power, and it appears to have no plans to disarm. The intended arrival of an Islamic international force in our backyard in Gaza is liable to cause us more harm than benefit. We fumbled the opportunity to encourage the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Gazans. We stopped short of conquering the Gaza Strip and establishing a military administration there, as we did in Judea and Samaria after the Six Day War. And of course barely anyone took seriously the option of resettling Gaza with Jews, ignoring its Torah and nationalist values.
The situation can still be saved if Israel takes advantage of Hamas'
violations of the agreement, and the fact that our hostages are no longer in
danger, to embark on a final military round to crush Hamas and completely
occupy the Strip. This is the way to achieve our unfulfilled war goals.