Netanyahu, don’t go to the US: Time is running out for the Gaza hostages - opinion

‘The hostages are suffering, but they are not dying,” is what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said this week at a security cabinet meeting during which the Israeli negotiation team briefed ministers on the ceasefire negotiations.

Really? They are not dying? How is it then that out of the 120 hostages still being held in Gaza, more than half are believed to be no longer alive?

Has Netanyahu forgtten about Chaim Peri, 79, Amiram Cooper, 84, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Nadav Popplewell, 51, who were all taken alive by Hamas on October 7 and confirmed by the IDF last month to have been killed in captivity?

Has he forgetten about 35-year-old Uriel Baruch, a father of two boys, who was taken from the Nova festival and also killed in captivity? 

What about Elad Katzir? Islamic Jihad put out a video of him in captivity January. His body was retrieved in a commando operation in April, after he was killed by the same terrorists.

People are dying in captivity, and every day that passes is another day that puts their lives at risk.

Did the prime minister not see the photo this week of the female IDF soldiers sitting on mattresses just days after being taken into Gaza? 

These were soldiers his government sent to the Nahal Oz outpost and then abandoned. 

They were taken by Hamas, while more than 50 others in the base were massacred. Does Netanyahu really think that Liri Albag, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy are just suffering?

Listen to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Mossad chief David Barnea. Gallant told the cabinet that if the female soldiers are not released, “their fate will be sealed.” Barnea said that the soldiers are “running out of time.”

Now is the time to bring back the hostages and to do that, there is nothing wrong with stopping the war. 

The debates now, over the line to which Israel withdraws in Gaza, and what happens to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt where Hamas has tunnels, are important, but those issues can be solved later. The hostages in Gaza do not have time.

There is no downplaying the urgency and it is one that tragically, most of this government does not seem to appreciate.

This is not the time to go to Congress

The fact that Netanyahu is still planning to fly to Washington on Sunday is an example of this. 

Now is not the time to go to Congress for a speech that no Israeli really cares about.

Yes, he will be able to say that he is the Israeli leader who will have addressed Congress the most, but how does that help the hostages in Gaza? 

Do Liri, Agam, Daniella, Karina, and Naama need Netanyahu in Washington? No. They need him in Jerusalem, working on a deal that will bring them home to their families.

In a normal world, Netanyahu would delay his trip and stay in Israel to work on the deal. Unfortunately that will not happen and, instead, the 120 hostages will continue to languish in captivity. After all, they are only suffering, right?

Sane voices

Thankfully, there are some sane voices in his coalition. 

The Shas Party, as well as at least two Likud ministers, have privately urged Netanyahu to seal the deal, despite the threats from Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to topple the government.

The only redeeming angle I can think of is that by going to Washington, Netanyahu is trying to stall to make it to the end of next week when the Knesset goes on recess until late October. 

Once there is no Knesset session, he will not have a problem reaching a deal, since there will no longer be a practical way for Smotrich and Ben-Gvir to topple the government. 

While they can yell, threaten, and protest, they will not be able to bring a vote to disperse the Knesset until it returns in the fall. By then, who knows what will happen.

In a perfect world, this would not even be a consideration. All the government would care about right now is getting the hostages home. 

What happens to the government should be the last thing on ministers’ minds. But, we know who we are dealing with, and since these are the people in charge, we have to at least hope that this is the case. 

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On Sunday, Israel will make history with draft orders going out to thousands of ultra-Orthodox youth. 

It remains to be seen whether they will appear for the first stage of the draft process – a cognitive and physical test – and if it will lead to even one haredi being drafted into the IDF.

The thing is, we don’t really have a choice. The IDF is short 15 battalions, which is around 10,000 soldiers. 

Israel does not have pools of people it can just draft from, and a blanket exemption for almost 1.5 million people has not been sustainable for a long time.

Now, we all know that it is national suicide.

The fact is that some haredim, still, do not understand that this is not only a failure of their own leadership but of all of us. 

This is no longer a political issue, a question of what makes the most sense to get United Torah Judaism and Shas to join a coalition. 

This is about the future of the country, and the haredim will have to decide whether they want to be part of Israel or not?

The general public will also have to decide if it is willing to continue carrying the haredim on its back. 

So far, the answer is mostly no, but it has yet to translate into political action, again because Netanyahu does not want to lose his coalition, even though he knows that time is running out. 

On Wednesday, the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill to extend service for those already serving, from 32 to 36 months, doing what it has always done – adding to the burden of those who already serve.

It is time that this changes, and here is one small way to get us started. 

On August 13, the fast of Tisha B’av will take place. 

Typically, after the fast, all haredi yeshivas go on vacation – known as “bein hazmanim” (“between the times”). 

It is a three-week break and lasts until the first of the month of Elul, when the yeshiva students restart their studies.

Haredim like to claim that their Torah study keeps Israel safe. 

If so, let’s see them not take a break this summer. 

Just like Golani, Givati, and Kfir soldiers do not get a three week break from fighting in Gaza, let the haredi yeshivas remain in session and continue learning. 

After all, they keep Israel safe, don’t they?