Upon touching down in Israel, as I did this week, one is confronted with one singular message: “BRING THEM HOME.” As many social media posts remind us, the walkway at Ben Gurion Airport is adorned with posters of the hostages still in captivity, and restaurants, cafes, and office buildings hang huge banners in English and Hebrew calling upon our leadership to Bring Them Home. Of course, the weekly gatherings, protests, and rallies are not calling for Israel to “win the war at all costs,” or even “eviscerate Hamas,” but rather one thing and one thing only, return those who were taken from their homes, from the Nova festival, and their army bases and have been held for 280 days.

Yet, at this juncture, it is becoming clear that the responsibility for the failure to make this happen rests solely on the shoulders of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his motley crew of right-wing zealots (Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, and Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strook).

One clear and definitive source that should guide our hostage negotiations is in this chapter of the Mishna where it states:

אֵין פּוֹדִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִים יוֹתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. (משנה גיטין ד:ו)

“The captives are not redeemed for more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world.” (Gittin 4:6)

Of course, no one can put a price tag on an individual life, yet the discussion about the “value of a hostage” is around how many Palestinian prisoners are to be exchanged for how many Israeli prisoners. In the 2011 release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, 1027 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged including over 600 with blood on their hands most especially with Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Yehiya Sinwar.

Today the price for freeing the hostages and ending the war – even without a clear vanquishing of Hamas is a different one – the collapse of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition. The delusional and uncompromising Religious Zionist and Jewish Power Parties have made that clear, and Netanyahu seems to be doing everything in his power to avoid bringing the hostages home including telling parents, siblings, and children that their loved ones cannot be returned to them and must continue their existence in hell.

This reality is baffling and unacceptable.

In a concise timeline, the Haaretz newspaper documented the trajectory of how PM Netanyahu disrupted, foiled, and threw a stick in the spokes of the negotiations to return the hostages and bring an end to the war.

Here are a few excerpts (I encourage everyone to subscribe to read the full report):

January 17

“…Contrary to the cabinet’s decision, Netanyahu began leaking information on prisoners’ release to reporters and presented hardline positions. Some in Israel’s negotiating teams accused Netanyahu of cultivating public opposition to a [hostage exchange] deal.”

February 6

“Hamas released a written statement in which it wrote it ‘treated the framework positively.’ Netanyahu responded immediately, releasing a statement by ‘a senior Israeli official’ saying that Hamas’ answer to the hostage deal is actually negative’ and adding that Israel has no intention in stopping the war. In that same week, according to Israel’s Channel 13, Netanyahu instructed Likud ministers to attack the deal that was taking shape.”

April 11

TV Investigation

In an interview with investigative TV program Uvda, a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team said Netanyahu bypassed the war cabinet after it approved the mandate to the teams, and prevented them from carrying out their assignments.

“I can’t say that without Netanyahu there would be no deal,” said the official, presented as D. “I can say that the probability of a deal would be higher.” D. continued: “Since December, definitely since January, it’s clear to everyone that we’re not conducting negotiations. It happens again and again: You get a mandate during the day, then the Prime Minister makes phone calls at night, instructs ‘don’t say that’ and ‘I’m not approving this,’ thus bypassing both the team leaders and the war cabinet.”

June 3 – Talks on a Framework for a Deal

“Netanyahu arrives at a classified discussion at the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, after which he leaked his own comments at the meeting: That he does not agree to end the war as part of the framework presented by President Biden. War cabinet members are furious with Netanyahu for foiling the talks that just renewed after a long impasse.”

July 2 – Hamas Tends to Agree to Deal

Israel sees positive developments toward a deal with Hamas, but given the sensitivity, only Netanyahu and the negotiating team are made aware of this. Though cabinet members were not briefed, Minister Smotrich says in a speech that he “wouldn’t be surprised if Sinwar suddenly replies positively to the offer he received, because he is panicking and understands that we are close to victory.”

Senior defense officials subsequently accused Netanyahu of sharing classified information with Smotrich. The Finance Minister, on his part, denied he was briefed, saying that he simply “read a simple map which combines reports in foreign media and the progress in military pressure.” Contrary to his statements, the foreign media carried no reports on the deal in those days.

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In a tell-all interview, a highly respected former officer in the IDF Spokesperson’s unit, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, who volunteered to re-enlist to help the war effort and who conducted over 750 interviews with foreign press stated:

“All I could say was that I was simply speaking on behalf of the military and that these questions are the government’s responsibility. But the government also had no answers because politically, it wasn’t convenient.”

This is the message that PM Netanyahu must hear as he prepares to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. The potential collapse of his coalition is a pittance compared to the suffering the hostages and their families have endured due to the calamity that befell Israel on Netanyahu’s watch. How many lives could have been saved if a deal had been struck earlier?

It was also reported this week that Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah said that his Lebanese terror group would accept Palestinian ally Hamas’s decision on Gaza hostage negotiations and would stop cross-border attacks on Israel if a ceasefire were reached. The Hezbollah rockets have only increased, forced thousands of Israelis to evacuate their homes in the North, and claimed the lives of Israelis already.

There’s no question that ultimately Hamas is to blame and bears full responsibility for the murders, rapes, and abductions that took place on October 7, and that Sinwar is likely sitting in a bunker surrounded by hostages under hundreds of thousands of Gazan civilians. Sinwar also knows that once the hostages are released, he will have no leverage with which to negotiate and will be left alone to face his people and the IDF might.

We know that going to war means casualties and is the hardest pill to swallow for any leader. Israel did not want this war and only embarked on it out of necessity.

However, none of that matters because if Netanyahu had the ability to save lives and return the hostages and he passed it up out of political considerations, that is both inexcusable and unforgivable.

When he comes to Washington that is the message he must hear.

Shabbat Shalom.