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It is as if the entire Jewish state weeps with relief every time a hostage is released. And yet the hostages return to a divided nation – one whose fault lines crack and creak as Hamas’s sick propaganda show rolls onwards. The deal that is bringing Israelis home is the deal that allows thousands of Palestinian terrorists the freedom to plot more horror. It is the deal that could allow Hamas to survive and eventually rebuild and return to attack.
For the other side, the deal is the social contract that underpins Israel: the state has your back. They blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for repeatedly yielding to pressure from his far-right coalition partners to return to war and sacrifice more Jewish lives in Gaza. Their cry is that the hostages are family members; “everyone’s grandparents”. Those are the Israelis who cover the streets with photos of hostages, urging passers-by to “look them in their eyes”.
Who is right? They both are. As phase two of the deal looms, Israel faces an intractable, existential dilemma. And yet, shamefully, spectators, institutions and politicians around the world – from the UN to bad-faith actors such as the Irish government – continue to pretend that Israel has one, simple, moral choice: to continue the deal and “stop the war”. It is a lie and every Israeli knows it.