Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story

I have friends, people I deeply admire, whose sons are hostages in Gaza – and will be left behind by this terrorist release deal with no assurance that they will ever be released.

I have friends who are worried that the terrorists who tried to murder them will be released. And they might even be able to swallow that horror if all the hostages were to be released but the deal only speaks of some of the hostages, and we don’t know how many of those are alive and how many are dead.

I have friends whose sons died in Gaza, fighting to make it safe for Israelis to live in the south of Israel – and in Israel in general.

We all want the hostages home. All of them. The living and the dead. We all can understand and empathize with the families who want their loved ones saved, who are urging to save those that can be saved NOW – because every moment in captivity with rapists and murderers is life-threatening and mind-twisting and we do not know what will be in the next moment. The urgency is very real.

But so is the risk for the rest of the nation. Releasing murderers means that other Jews will be murdered. The only difference is that we know the names and stories of the hostages and we don’t know the names of the yet-to-be-murdered.  

Releasing terrorists who attempted murder and did not succeed, is no better than releasing murderers with blood on their hands – their release is an opportunity and incentive for them to try harder next time.

And they will. Past terrorist release deals have taught us that.

Supposedly 1000 terrorists will be released to Judea and Samaria. That means that the Arabs there, who cheered on the October 7^th massacre, will receive new heroes to lead the next attacks against Jews. The territory that is already at a boiling point will be injected with a new wave of violent people, incentivized to kill more Jews.

Instead of following through with eliminating Hamas in Gaza, we are allowing them to become stronger. They not only attacked Israel and survived (which is already a huge victory), but they also succeeded in releasing their prisoners, a success beyond their wildest dreams.

And no, murderers and rapists in prison are not comparable to women, babies, fathers, and elderly stolen from their beds, in pajamas and barefoot.

We are leaving Hamas in Gaza, allowing them to become strong again. What does that say to the families of the soldiers who died to secure Gaza, so that the Israelis living in proximity to Gaza can go back to their homes and live in safety? Do the lives sacrificed mean nothing? What about all the injured soldiers? What did they fight for? And how will Israelis  return to their homes knowing Hamas is still strong in Gaza and that they promised October 7^th over and over again?

On top of all that – all the Jew-haters around the world are watching and what do they learn from this? That it pays to take hostages. That the way to keep Israel from winning wars is to steal babies and old people from their beds.

I feel sick. Horrified and afraid for the future.  

All that being said – when I have doubted Prime Minister Netanyahu in the past, I’ve discovered later that he had very good reasons for making the decisions that seemed insane at the time. There is a lot we don’t know and many pieces to balance in this dangerous chess game.

There are reasons to pause in Gaza but is this a pause or the complete surrender that it looks like? We are still under the Biden administration arms embargo. The top leadership of the IDF needs to be replaced with new blood. And there is Iran. Everything is very complicated, volatile, and very very dangerous.

All I can do is hope that the grace of God and intelligent choices will pull us out of what looks like a horrific disaster.  

My logic gives me no rest. All I can do is try to believe. To have faith. These are terrible times, treacherous, and gut-wrenching to the point of feeling utterly drained.

But would we have survived 4000 years only for our story to end now? I don’t think so. That’s why I am holding on to this thought – and because there is nothing else to count on – “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”