After 471 days literally underground in Gaza, three Israeli women hostages were allowed out of their macabre subterranean prisons and released Sunday morning. In negotiations fraught with uncertainty that threatened to spoil the deal until the last moment, the women were turned over by the militants who had held them since Oct. 7, 2023. They were passed to local Red Cross personnel, then the welcoming embrace of their moms escorted by Israeli Defense Forces, the brave soldiers who waged a brutal campaign to smash the terrorists and bring the prisoners home.
The war that started with the worst single act of violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust roiled the lives of virtually every Jew in America. Many were shocked by the depth of antisemitism revealed in the protests of Israel’s war in Gaza, and the ease with which so many haters spewed vile anti-Israeli propaganda, even sinking to antisemitic demonstrations on some of the most elite colleges and university campuses in the country.
The mass murders, rapes and desecration of 1,200 Israelis and guests on Oct. 7, 2023 suggested the grim possibility genocide might not be filed safely away in the dustbin of history after all. “From the River to the Sea” is a hateful slogan that describes a world without Israel, an end to the centuries-old dream of “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
Far too many Palestinian civilians also died in the fighting, thousands of them women and children. Hamas thought it could beat Israel by losing. Their entire strategy was to wrap militants in the bodies of their own defenseless civilian women and children. The more suffering of their own, the better to agitate and lobby international aid groups and judicial bodies against Israel. The militants adopted as a strategy that the more their own Palestinian people suffered, the more the world would seek to undo the grand project of creating a Jewish state in the Holy Land.
“Yes/But,” became the usual response of pro-Palestinian protesters. Yes, Oct. 7 was terrible, but Palestinians have legitimate complaints. Their nation is occupied, their people denied equal rights. All true, but neither side has remotely offered a solution to the ongoing crisis, which lurches from bad to worse.
My wife Erica has obsessed over the fate of the hostages since they were snatched from their music festival a year and a half ago. She was shocked by how many of her friends blamed Israel for the violence.
“I feel very emotional, as a Jewish woman, that my sisters are being released today,”my wife said. “This could have been my daughter who is closer in age with the young women being held hostage, and it is a good day for Israel. These innocent people were taken hostage 471 days ago. It is stunning that they have survived.”
She added, “The fact Hamas, a certified terrorist organization, has released these three women is unprecedented and amazing. But I have a question about the Red Cross. Why is it that the Red Cross could transfer the hostages, but the Red Cross has not once visited them while they have been held hostage underground for 471 days without any medication. I would be dead on the first day without my medication.”
Having covered Israel and the surrounding Arab nations since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, I have become an eternal pessimist. Yes. The situation is dire, but don’t worry, it will get worse.
Not today. In terms of future negotiations, further hostage and Palestinian prisoner releases, there are miles to go before we sleep. Yet, release of these three Israeli women has stirred a breath of cautious optimism. They seem in remarkably good health despite their ordeal. Emily Damari, 28, lost two fingers in the violence surrounding her capture, but she is otherwise all right. Romi Gonen, 24, who was ambushed by Hamas militants as she tried to escape, and Doron Sternbrecher, a 31-year-old veterinary nurse, are also doing better than expected.
On the last day of his presidency, Joe Biden could take credit for this welcome development. He pressed harD to stop the suffering, so did Donald J. Trump. There is little doubt this mini miracle would not have happened without the guy who wrote “The Art of the Deal.”
