In the Talmud, there is a phrase referring to the domino effect of sins you commit against another: “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh” meaning all of Israel is responsible for one another. This is the basis of the Jewish world having the obligation to step in for one another. One can look at the last over 500 days from this lens, with the Jewish world, from Israel to around the diaspora, finding ways to care for one another; each hostage, in this sense, is our own family.
The hostage deal brokered between Israel and Hamas, highlights the complex and often contentious nature of these deals, where Israel is negotiating for the lives of those innocents ripped from their homes, or for the bodies of its citizens so that they can have a proper burial, while Hamas is negotiating for the release of prisoners, some who played significant roles in decades of terrorism and with blood on their hands. This largely underscores the paradox that makes this war so difficult to understand. While Israel values human life, Hamas has one goal: to kill Israelis, regardless of whether that leads to the death of their own people. The choices Israel must make are ones no other nation faces.
For the last five weeks, the Jewish world and our allies have watched with bated breath as we learn the names of the first group of 33 hostages to be released. Then we had to wait to watch them come home. Hamas has orchestrated the release of hostages as elaborate media spectacles, transforming what should be humanitarian gestures into propaganda opportunities. Each release is meticulously staged, with hostages being paraded before cameras.
These tactics are emblematic of Hamas’s broader psychological warfare, which seeks to manipulate emotions and perceptions to their advantage. In having mobs of people jeering at the hostages and giving them gifts and medals as if they were leaving summer camp, it became a vicious propaganda display.
Nothing however prepared us for the horrors of when we watched as Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami were paraded onto a stage, barely able to walk on their own, looking as if they were just released from a concentration camp. None of them knew what had happened at home after they were taken. They believed they were going home to their families, a fact Hamas treated as a perverted joke by having Eli say on stage that he was looking forward to going home to his wife and daughters, all the while the terrorists knew that they had murdered them on October 7th, 2023.
Another heart-wrenching example of Hamas’ inhuman psychological tactics occurred this week with the return of the bodies of four Israeli hostages: the caskets of Shiri Bibas, her two babies Ariel and Kfir (aged four and nine months when they were kidnapped), and Oded Lifshitz, a beloved grandfather who had dedicated his life to peace, were paraded on to stage, with celebration music blaring in the background, children dancing, and the terrorists—recently released as part of the deal—being given the front row seats of honour. A sign hung on Shiri’s casket declaring “Date of arrest—Oct. 7, 2023”—as if ripping a mother and her babies from their home was a justifiable action.
Ofri Bibas Levy wears a shirt with her brother, sister-in-law and their two children, age 4 and 10 months held captive in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Ariel Schalit/AP Photo.
In an act of further trauma, Hamas returned the caskets with locks on them without keys, and once they were opened, they were filled with Hamas and other terrorist factions’ propaganda. But the depravity didn’t stop there. The coroner confirmed that while they had received the bodies of Oded, Ariel, and Kfir, the fourth body was not Shiri’s but that of an unidentified Palestinian woman. This deliberate misinformation not only violated the ceasefire agreement but also inflicted profound emotional distress on the victims’ families and the broader Jewish world.
Further reports have emerged that forensic evidence shows the boys had been killed with “bare hands,” according to Israeli authorities.
Sitting here in the West what continues to make this all the more appalling is the reaction from many of our fellow citizens. It has been marked by a combination of utter silence—including when it comes to the murder of the two red-headed babies—or even, in some cases, the outright justification of the kidnapping of innocents.
We’ve also seen attempts to compare the release of hostages with the Palestinian prisoners, when in return for Romi, Emily, Kfir, Ariel, and all the others so far, Israel has released people like Zakaria Zubeidi, the former Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who was implicated in multiple attacks during the Second Intifada, including the 2002 Beit She’an attack that resulted in six fatalities; Murad Nazmi Al-Ajlouni, who was serving three life sentences for being involved in multiple suicide bombings; Shadi Abu Shahdam, who sent a suicide bomber to one of the busiest streets in Jerusalem; Nael Abid, who was involved in the planning of the suicide bombing attack at café Hillel; and so many others with blood on their hands.
Following a hand gesture from Elon Musk during a speech, there was a group of people who expressed such outrage, making videos to pump up their social media channels and putting a scarlet letter on anyone who they deemed wasn’t strong enough against it. Meanwhile, many of these same people have been completely silent about the return of emaciated hostages or the abhorrent ceremony to desecrate the memories of innocent babies and a grandfather, even worse, in some cases they seemingly agree with what Hamas does. How many times have we seen people rip down or vandalize the posters of the redheaded Bibas children, acting as if their kidnapping was justified? How much do you have to hate Jews to do this or not see it as a problem, all while claiming to hold progressive values?
There are politicians who truly believe that one tweet about the tragedy of the Bibas babies will erase over 500 days of inaction and silence. That Jews won’t remember those who have stood up in the House of Commons, wearing keffiyehs pushing Hamas propaganda, or those who actively worked to put in place an arms embargo against Israel, or those who on their social channels promoted blood libel against Israel, without so much as a thought. Even on a day when the Jewish world is grieving with a pain so many of us couldn’t imagine, we have Canadian politicians who can’t even bring themselves to unequivocally condemn what has happened, instead needing to “both sides” their statements.
Beyond highlighting the terror and depravity of Hamas, this episode has revealed the true depths of the moral bankruptcy of so many here in the West.
