>> Read all messages from Zehava Galon
It’s hard even to breathe. After 15 months, they are coming back home. Sadly, only some of them, not all. After an eternity in the hell of Gaza, after the heartbreaking pleading of families to bring them back, after watching children desperate to be reunited with their parents entreating apathetic MKs, and after seeing parents crying out for their children being thrown out of the Knesset, finally there is a deal.
This deal should have happened much earlier. Israel should have long ago declared an end to the war and brought all the hostages back. We could have saved so many lives…. I cannot stop thinking of all those we saw being captured alive who returned home in coffins. I think of all the soldiers who were killed in vain during futile operations to “cleanse” neighborhoods that had already been fought over; innocent civilians in Gaza who were killed, starved, and displaced time and again; people who could have gone on living among us but died in the name of baseless promises intended to sustain a coalition that valued its own survival more than human life. And it’s hard not to think of all the suffering that could have been spared from those who will soon, at long last, embark on a long journey of recovery and rehabilitation.
I know that this is not an easy deal for many because it doesn’t include the release of all hostages. Sixty-five of them, both alive and dead, will still remain in Hamas’s hands. It’s a difficult deal also because it involves releasing imprisoned Hamas operatives with blood on their hands. It’s not easy, but we must honestly admit that figures like Yahya Sinwar did not emerge as an outcome of the Shalit prisoner deal, but rather as a result of Netanyahu’s policy of seeing Hamas as an asset. Empty slogans about “eliminating Hamas” exacted a toll, too. After more than a year of intense fighting and the destruction of Gaza, Hamas does not lack for new recruits. Destruction, death, and bereavement have always been the fuel that stokes hatred and the desire for revenge.
This is the deal that has always been on the table, and the long months of war didn’t change that. In fact, Netanyahu’s partner Itamar Ben-Gvir admitted that it is the same deal we’ve been discussing for a year now and boasted of sabotaging its approval. A year ago, this same deal could have saved Eden Zacharia, Carmel Gat, and Aryeh Zalmanovich. But Ben-Gvir and his crony Bezalel Smotrich vetoed it, and Netanyahu chose to strike a death pact with them, prolong the war, starve Gaza, and prevent the return of the hostages – all of it for the saving his coalition.
Indeed, the deal includes releasing prisoners who ought to rot in jail. It’s sickening, because I would like the victims of these individuals to see justice done. However, I want justice for the hostages and their families even more. Their lives, their chances of recovery are more important than any revenge.
It’s time to see the return of all the hostages. It’s time to give their families a measure of comfort. It’s the least we can do and yet it’s a lot. It’s just a shame we waited so long.