If I found myself sitting across the table from one of the top leaders of Hamas, I don’t know if I would have been able to control my emotions and not try to kill him.
On Oct. 7, when I drove from Tel Aviv to the Gaza border area in order to save my family and their neighbors, I saw with my own eyes the cruelty, sadism and hatred of this evil terror organization.
But if someone had told me that by sitting across the table from these monsters, and negotiating with them instead of trying to kill them, I’d increase the likelihood of releasing our hostages from the dark tunnels of Gaza – I would absolutely do it, without any hesitation.
Not because I have any bit of sympathy for Hamas, but because after 17 months of war, it is time to put an end to the hostage crisis, and bring home all our people.
That’s why I felt hopeful when I read that senior members of the Trump administration were holding secret talks directly with Hamas in order to prolong the ceasefire and hostage release deal signed in January. This effort is under a politically motivated attack by certain members of the Netanyahu government. But if it succeeds in bringing back our hostages, all Israelis will be very grateful.
The United States has a long history of talking to the kind of people it usually tries to kill when there’s a chance to save the lives of Americans caught in harm’s way. There’s no reason not to try this method with regards to the hostages held in Gaza.
During Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, our last prisoners of war came back home after eight months. Back then, Israel was a much smaller country, with a significantly weaker military. The fact that today, we still have hostages held by dangerous terrorists, after more than double that amount of time, is unacceptable. That’s why most Israelis believe we must prioritize the return of the hostages over all other goals at this point in time.
With President Trump in the White House, Israel will have four years to defeat our enemies, guarantee our security needs and reach historic peace agreements with friendly Middle Eastern countries. But our hostages don’t have all this time left. They can’t wait. We must save them now, first of all, and then move on to other missions.
On Oct. 7, I rushed to the Gaza border area, but had to stop again and again on my way to my son’s kibbutz – in order to fight terrorists, save people I met along the way, and evacuate wounded soldiers to safety. Only at the end of that very long day, I found out that two of my son’s neighbors were kidnapped by Hamas 10 minutes before I entered the gate of the kibbutz.
Those 10 minutes have haunted me every day since Oct. 7. I ask myself, could I have arrived sooner?
To President Trump’s negotiators, I say – don’t waste even a single minute. Make sure you talk to anyone, anywhere, if you believe it can save the hostages. The people of Israel support you.
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a retired major general who served in the IDF for more than three decades, from 1981 to 2014. On Oct. 7, 2023, he fought Hamas terrorists, rescued injured soldiers and helped save his own family and other residents of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.