A Deal With the Devil

On Saturday, October 7th at 6:30 AM, about 70 Hamas terrorists infiltrated Kfar Aza, a Kibbutz in Israel about 3 miles from Gaza. One of the first homes they broke into belonged to Roey (43, a photographer on one of the major Israeli News websites), Smadar (38) and their three children, Michael (9), Amalya (6) and Avigail (3), all dual Israeli and American citizens.

The terrorists killed Smadar, and then shot Roey, who was holding Avigail in his arms. Avigail survived and, soaked in her father’s blood, ran to the neighbor’s house. Roey later died of his wounds.

Michael, only 9 years old, called the police. ‘My Abba, Ema and sister were killed by terrorists, what should I do?’ He was told to go hide in a closet ‘until good people come’. Michael and Amalya hid in a closet, just feet away from the body of their mother, staying quiet as they heard the sounds of terrorists performing a massacre in the houses around them.

14 hours later, Roey’s brother arrived together with armed forces to rescue them. Michael and Amalya didn’t dare leave the closet until they heard the familiar voice of their uncle.

Avigail was taken in by the neighbors - a family with three kids, and hid in the safe room together with the children and their mother, while their father went out to get a gun and defend the Kibbutz.

When the father returned to his house, it was empty. While he was out, Hamas terrorists had broken into the house and kidnapped his wife, their three children and Avigail.?

Avigail, 3 years old, has been in Gaza for 46 days, after seeing her father get shot as she was in his arms. She is there, alone - without her mother, father, or siblings. She has likely since then not seen the light of day, and is being held in one of Hamas’s intricate web of underground tunnels. Hamas has not let the Red Cross see her, or any of the other hostages.?

My son is close to her age, and a day doesn’t go by where I don’t imagine how the same could have happened to him. I just happen to live in Tel Aviv and not in Kfar Aza. I can’t imagine what Avigail, and the others, are going through. There are no words to describe it.?

On Tuesday night the Israeli government, in an overwhelming majority, approved a deal with Hamas that will likely lead to the release of Avigail, together with ~50 other children and their mothers. In return, Israel has agreed to a 4 day cease fire, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners.

This was not an easy decision to make, and over the last few days the Israeli government and public has been torn over this issue.

50 women and children means that over 180 people - including additional children, women, elderly people, and sick people - will still remain kidnapped in Gaza, in the hands of people who have performed the most barbaric acts imaginable.?

50 women and children means that families are going to be torn apart, as mothers and children are released, while the fathers of the same families remain in captivity.?

Should we have pushed for more, at the risk of losing what we’ve already achieved?

Hamas knows that hostages, both alive and dead, are our vulnerability. That’s why they kidnapped so many people, including children, women and elderly people, to use them as human shields and trading chips. They knew we would do anything to get them back. Negotiating with them gives them more incentive to perform similar attacks and kidnappings.

There’s also no question that Hamas will use every emotional and military manipulation during this fragile ceasefire to achieve whatever wins they can. They will take advantage of the cease fire to re-arm and to move the other hostages deeper. Israel will lose military and intelligence advantages. This will likely directly result in more soldiers and Israeli civilians killed and lessen the chances of getting some of the other hostages back. It may also decrease the chances of eradicating Hamas, something that is seen as absolutely necessary in order for Israelis, certainly those neighboring Gaza, to feel they can return to their homes and live without existential fear.?

How should we be thinking about this hellish dilemma?

One of the things that have been made clear to me over the last few weeks is that there are dark forces in this world, much darker than I ever imagined possible, who are very serious, much more serious than I expected, about forcing their extremism on us.?

Therefore, in order to win this battle, we can’t just use tanks and fighter jets. War puts us all into survival mode, understandably. But this is a battle not just for our lives - also for our souls.?

Consequently I think we need to double down on defining for ourselves what we’re fighting for.?

For me, being part of a nation that decides to save Avigail and as many children and other hostages as possible, even if it comes at a heavy price, is one of those things.?

Hamas is right - it is our vulnerability. We will do everything we can to get our hostages home, including taking significant risks and making a deal with the devil. And I’m proud of it.

That is, in addition to all the strategic considerations, one of the criteria that I think needs to guide us in our decision making. On this issue and others, we need to be thinking about what values are important to us? What sort of country, and world, are we fighting for? What motivates us to wake up tomorrow with hope and belief in a better future??

Is it a country and a world torn by internal fighting, by polarization, by distrust, and the other maladies that have been striking Israel, as well as the US and other democratic countries???

I don’t think so. I think we want to fight for better than that.??

Figuring out the answer to these questions, and then figuring out how to strengthen those values is, to me, now more important than ever.?

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Image credit: Graffiti near my home in Florentine, by rotem_zamir