Israelis vow to ‘bring them home’

NOTHING CAN BLOT OUT THE HORROR OF THE SAVAGERY. — VIVIAN BERCOVICI

The fate of the remaining 100 plus hostages taken during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel is central to what the future might hold in the war between Israel and Hamas.

There can be no underestimating the importance that Israelis attach to the hostages’ release. “Bring them home now!” has become a rallying cry. Across the country, banners boldly display these four words alongside an endless stream of posters with the faces, names and ages of those still in captivity. Their photos are literally everywhere. You see them when entering and exiting the national airport, on the country’s main highways, at bus stops, on buses, storefronts, balconies and so on.

Israel’s main television networks regularly feature up-close and personal stories of the hostages’ lives prior to Oct. 7, frequently accompanied by tearful interviews with family members and friends. Remarkably, in a country of more than nine-million people, many Israelis seem to either know one of the hostages or know someone who does. But it is the sheer immensity of the public awareness campaign to “bring them home now” that has ultimately made so many of them household names in the country.

Almost without fail on Saturday evenings, tens of thousands of Israelis gather at what is known as Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” to remind the government that the return of the hostages must be its overarching priority. There is a very large Sabbath dining table that was symbolically lined with some 200 empty chairs in preparation for their eventual return home. But there is a growing sense of despair, especially since Tuesday’s reports that at least 32 of the 136 hostages who had remained in Hamas custody are dead. Relatives of hostages are protesting outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, loudly insisting that no price is too high to bring them home.

Following extremely difficult negotiations, a first group of hostages was released last November. An agreement reached via Qatari mediation led to a series of truces in the fighting (some observers preferred to call them temporary ceasefires) with 10 hostages to be sent home to Israel each time in exchange for some 30 Palestinians to be released from the country’s prisons. The exchanges were made in stages and the families watched with enormous trepidation to see if their loved ones were among the groups that were released.

For the past two weeks negotiations have been underway for the release of the remaining hostages. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been conducting painstaking negotiations to define the terms of an agreement. The negotiations have been centred on the length of time for a truce or ceasefire and a determination of the number of Palestinian prisoners to be offered in exchange for the hostages. Israel’s government will not accept a permanent cessation to the fighting as currently insisted upon by Hamas.

While the embattled prime minister’s political future remains uncertain, his legacy will be significantly affected by whether he succeeds in securing the hostages’ return. Although some family members insist that no price is too high for their release, Netanyahu knows that the terms of an agreement are critical for many Israelis who believe that too large a concession could compromise public confidence in the state’s future ability to protect its citizens. The current co-operation across fractious political lines that is the basis for the country’s emergency government may also be at stake if the prime minister refuses to agree to what some Israeli parliamentarians deem to be an acceptable deal or, on the other hand, if he concedes to something other Parliamentarians believe to be an unacceptable compromise.

A survey conducted between Jan. 28 and Jan. 30 by the Israel Democracy Institute revealed that nearly half (47 per cent) of Israeli residents believe returning the hostages is the highest priority of the war against Hamas — whereas 42 per cent of Israelis believe that toppling Hamas’s grip over Gaza should be the priority. It is worth noting that 53 per cent of female respondents say releasing hostages is the most important goal compared with 40 per cent of male respondents.

At present a breakthrough in negotiations seems less imminent and the families and friends of hostages along with many other Israelis struggle with feelings of both anger and despair. They nonetheless continue to cling to the hope that if it is not “now,” the hostages will be brought home soon.

ISRAEL’S GOVERNMENT WILL NOT ACCEPT A PERMANENT CESSATION TO THE FIGHTING.