Friday September 6, 2024 – ג׳ אֱלוּל תשפ”ד

It didn’t have to end like this.

This was not the ending that we expected.

This was the nightmare scenario that we all knew could happen deep in our consciousness, but we hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t. Now we are grieving and many of us are angry.

The shock, disbelief, and complete and utter heartbreak when learning the news this past Saturday night that  Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Eden Yerushalmi (24), Ori Danino (25), Alex Lobanov (32), Carmel Gat (40), and Almog Sarusi (27) were found dead in a tunnel under Gaza sent much of the Jewish and Israeli world into a deep sense of grief. Of course, other bodies of hostages had been discovered, some even recently, but something felt different about this mass murder.

First, we now know that their bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds, according to Israel’s Health Ministry, after an examination carried out by Abu Kabir Forensic Institute. The ministry reported that the hostages were murdered between 48 and 72 hours before their autopsy, meaning between Thursday and Friday morning.

They had survived for almost 11 months. They had been injured in their capture (5 out of the 6 from the Nova music festival), and somehow survived against all odds – including Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose arm was blown off by a grenade thrown into the shelter where he was hiding and where he lost his best friend Aner Shapiro. They were young and beautiful, and they were everyone’s children.

For many in the English-speaking community, Hersh Goldberg-Polin became a household name. The term in Hebrew is “בן בית” (Ben Bayit) literally “a son of the home,” but figuratively “a regular fixture in each of our lives.” Millions came to know Hersh as we watched and listened to his parents Jon and Rachel speak at rallies, online videos, webinars, and with every audience and world leader possible, including President Biden, the Pope, and most recently at the Democratic National Convention in their hometown of Chicago. They spoke of Hersh’s character and personality and never failed to mention the wide-ranging diversity of the other hostages and to express sympathy for the suffering Palestinians in Gaza.

We all hoped and prayed that they would come home soon, that there would be a deal, and any day now we would see these young faces leave the hell of the past 11 months behind and reunite with their families and loved ones.

And then all that hope vanished in a moment when the world learned that their lives were brutally and swiftly taken by terrorists who denied their families and all of us the simple hope of reversing this nightmare into a dream. Rachel and Jon, and all of the family members of those stolen and held in captivity, waited like the biblical Jacob who thought that his son Joseph’s life was taken only to discover that he was brought out of a pit and reunited with his family. Rather, they received the tidings of Job, who learned that his children were forever taken from him.

Instead of welcoming these 6 souls back to life, we watched as their families and friends eulogized them and gathered together to bury them.

With the grief came rage.

Israelis poured into the streets in multitudes infuriated with their government’s failure to bring these and the remaining hostages home alive. To be clear, there is also continuous rage against Hamas. After abducting the hostages, torturing them, and using psychological warfare against their families and loved ones, they then murdered the precious human beings, our children and friends, in cold blood – execution style with a bullet to the back of their heads. About that, there is no question. These Hamas terrorists are monsters. They are cruel. They are evil.

However…

As one friend (Rabbi Shoshana Cohen) put it in a social media post:

“The Israelis taking to the streets know that Hamas killed these hostages in cold blood. That is not debated. We also can’t know whether anything Israel could have done would have saved them. Because in order to live in a functioning society you need to maintain some level of trust that your government cares, that if something happens to you or your family, they will do everything possible to save you. It is one of the most basic terms of the agreement between people and governments that holds society together. We now know, well beyond a shadow of a doubt, that [so many members in] our government do not care, that they do not see [bringing the hostages home alive] as part of their job. Who knows how many of the hostages could have come home alive, but we do know that they did not do their best or act in good faith. We needed to know that they did everything. We know they didn’t even come close. That is the crisis and that is what it feels impossible to recover from.”

Activist and author Mikhael Manekin put it in the following way in an op-ed in the New York Times shortly after October 7.

“Generations of Jews were raised on the concept that our first care should be for those held in captivity. For me, this tradition signifies the beauty of communal responsibility. It strengthens the obligation, common among other nations, religions, and ethical traditions as well, to care deeply about your neighbor. Without it, our communal solidarity is lost.”

Part of what is fueling the rage of many Israelis is that the military top brass, across the spectrum, are more willing to publicly contradict the Prime Minister and members of the cabinet. Despite the military failures of the IDF and the military intelligence on and before October 7, the generals and Defense Ministry officials are not suspected of playing politics, spinning messages for the media, or obfuscating reality for personal gain.

And then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was heard saying the following:

“Benjamin Netanyahu decided some weeks ago that he does not want a deal, and when it became possible, he got nervous and did all he could to torpedo it. He figured out that by using the Philadelphi corridor, he could also draw the sane right to his side and win some points with this group.
…
The media fell for this spin and is consumed all day long with the question of yes or no to the [maintaining IDF presence in the] Philadelphi [corridor], when the real question is really the fate of the hostages versus the fate of the coalition.”

No one has accused him of being a ‘bleeding heart lefty’ or of not prioritizing Israel’s security. A career military man, who was inches away from becoming Chief of Staff over a decade ago, Gallant is also a Likudnik at heart. His worldview and outlook are on the Israeli Center-Right. In the current crisis, he has demonstrated what many in the government have not: integrity and honesty.

The sad truth is that despite the potential validity of PM Netanyahu’s messaging as he put “the proverbial goat in the house…”[1] most Israelis simply don’t trust the messenger, PM Netanyahu.

In a lengthy press conference, PM Netanyahu attempted to express empathy (not his strong suit – to put it mildly) but dug his heels in on his claim that he could not agree to a ceasefire without the Israeli presence in the Philadelphi corridor. He used a few historical claims and arguments rebutted by two former Chiefs of Staff and former Defense Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

Curiously, however, it would not be outside the realm of possibility for Israelis to have demanded a complete sealing off and closure of the Philadelphi route from day one. That would have been seen as an act that prioritized the hostages[2] by only allowing those Palestinians in need of refuge to leave Gaza and preventing Hamas members, including October 7 mastermind Yahye Sinwar from escaping.

So, what to do now?

Seeing as those seeking to depose Netanyahu seem to be unable to bring about early elections (the next elections are scheduled for November 2026), the only remaining option is to take to the streets. Back in March of 2023, when Netanyahu threatened to fire Defense Minister Gallant, the public opposition ignited in force against this knee-jerk and irresponsible reaction. In response to this public opposition, Netanyahu walked it back. Using this as the precedent, some say that he won’t budge until the country is on fire. Those who refuse to let the remaining hostages become the next casualties of war feel that there is no choice.

For those of us who are not in Israel, we can also raise our voices and join the protests of the hostage family forum, support them financially, and organize in our own congregations to return the balance of power through Israel’s National Institutions at the upcoming World Zionist Congress elections this Spring.

As we enter the month of Elul and begin our process of introspection and Heshbon HaNefesh, we will grapple with our grief and our anger and do our best to translate them into deeds. A lack of action and protest will allow Netanyahu to keep spinning and playing roulette with people’s lives. We owe it to Hersh, Ori, Alex, Almog, Eden, and Carmel (and hundreds of others of fell on October 7 and died fighting Hamas) to do all that we can.

As Hersh’s father Jon Polin ended his eulogy for his beloved son, “May their memories be for a revolution!”

Hodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom.

[1] This expression comes from a Hasidic tale in which a rabbi advised the unhappy Jew (whose house was so small and crowded) to bring his goat into the house. Now he was even more miserable – so the rabbi advised him to take the goat out. Now, the poor Jew was absolutely thrilled (his home was just fine)! In Hebrew, this is known as “להכניס עז”

[2] By not allowing them to be trafficked out of Gaza and possibly to Iran, as many Israelis remember vividly the never-heard-from-again navigator Ron Arad.