When three Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza on Sunday, Israeli kindergarten teacher Meitar Ofer felt two conflicting emotions.
First and foremost, Ofer felt joy. Three of the compatriots, all women, were released after more than 470 days in captivity.
However, in the back of her mind, there was also a feeling of being hurt. In order to free the women and the 30 other hostages expected to be freed within the next six weeks, Israel has pledged to free about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have long-term charges for killing Israelis. Some are serving prison sentences.
One of those prisoners killed Ofer’s father with an ax 11 years ago.
“I’m very happy they’re back,” Ofer, 48, said of the hostages. However, he added, “It hurts knowing that my father’s killer will go free.”
For both Israelis and Palestinians, the ceasefire spurred joy and celebration, but it also came at a cost for both peoples.
The deal gives Israel control of strategic areas in the Gaza Strip and, at least for now, prevents many Palestinians from returning to their often-desolate homelands. It also forced painful concessions from Israel, including the release of convicted terrorists and the possibility that Hamas, the instigator of the attacks that sparked the war, could remain in power.
Despite a 15-month counteroffensive that has devastated Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many Israelis now fear the country has failed to meet its wartime goals. .
After using Gaza as a springboard to launch the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, Hamas still controls much of the territory, with its surviving members rejoicing in several Gaza cities after the start of the truce. It is allowed to be paraded. For Israelis who still seek the group’s complete defeat, these scenes were gut-wrenching.
Others may also oppose Hamas’s continued existence if it leads to the release of all hostages currently held in Gaza. But a compromise agreed to by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only guarantees the release of one-third of them. Even these people will be released at a high price in exchange for the prisoners convicted of the most notorious terrorist attack in Israeli history, as well as the scores of women and minors held without charge. It will be.
“There is an extreme version of ambivalence. We feel two contradictory emotions strongly and simultaneously, combining extreme joy and extreme fear,” said Israeli philosopher Micah Goodman.
That fear comes in two forms, Goodman added, depending on a person’s political outlook. Many on the Israeli left fear the ceasefire agreement will collapse before all the hostages are released. And many right-wing Israelis fear that a ceasefire could become permanent and prevent Hamas from being completely defeated.
“There’s not a single Israeli I know who wasn’t so shocked to see our sisters come home,” said Goodman, the author of several books on Israeli identity. No,” he said. “But the Israelis were afraid that we would lose the opportunity to bring the remaining hostages home,” he added. “And the Israeli right is concerned that if the war ends with Hamas still in place, we may lose the war.”
Yitzhak Horn’s plight crystallizes the conflict that many feel on the Israeli left. Horn’s sons, Eitan and Yair, were kidnapped during a Hamas raid on October 7, 2023, but Yair is the only one listed for release in the first six weeks of the ceasefire. After these six weeks, Eitan may never be released if the Israeli government, under pressure from right-wing forces, resumes its efforts to defeat Hamas. For now, Horne isn’t sure whether to celebrate or mourn.
“They exposed me to a modern-day Solomon’s dilemma,” Yitzhak Horn said in a radio interview Monday, referring to the Biblical story of a mother who had to choose between killing her child or giving her up. .
“We are all happy with what happened yesterday and hope things continue like this.” “On the other hand, I also feel angry, disappointed and scared because I don’t know when Eitan will come back or what will happen.”
This dissatisfaction within the hostage movement is compounded by the feeling that the government could have done more to weaken Hamas while the war was still raging. The government has repeatedly rejected calls for a transition of power in Gaza that would allow a more moderate Palestinian entity to run the territory instead of Hamas, insisting that Hamas’s succession is possible only after the war ends.
Over the past 15 months, Israeli forces have at one point taken control of most towns in the Gaza Strip, forcing Hamas to flee to other areas. But in both cases, the military withdrew without attempting the difficult task of handing power over to Hamas’s rivals.
“Hamas has not only survived militarily, but its regime remains intact,” Israeli critic Avi Issacharov wrote in a column for the centrist newspaper Yediot Aronos on Monday.
“A lot of that is entirely due to the Israeli government,” Issacharoff continued. “For months, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet members have steadfastly refused to discuss the creation of an alternative government to Hamas.”
Despite their differences over wartime strategy, Israelis shared all the background ambiguities about the decision to exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees.
Israeli journalist Yair Cherki spoke about the complexities of rooting for the release of hostages. One of them, Romi Gonen, a family friend, also learns that his brother’s killer will also be released as part of the same deal.
“He’s coming out less than 10 years after the murder, less than 10 years from now? That’s unbearable,” Cherki said in a televised roundtable discussion.
However, he concluded: “Romi is alive, that’s basic and simple. My opinion hasn’t changed: Romi has to be here.”
Myra Noveck and Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
