This past week, we witnessed massive protests across the country and the world, united under the call “their time is up.” Sadly, this isn’t just a slogan but a sentence rooted in personal experience – my experience.
After completing my military service, I was recruited to the intelligence department of Shin Bet for operational intelligence duties at the service’s headquarters. In this role, I coordinated all incoming and outgoing alert information.
For three months, there had been an air of alertness regarding a potential kidnapping attack through a tunnel in the Kerem Shalom area. When I finished my shift at 11:30 p.m., I had no idea that the next day, June 25, 2006, at 6:30 a.m., we would receive a report about an attack that had occurred an hour earlier.
The report stated that there was a suspected abduction and the implementation of the Hannibal Protocol. Shockingly, the soldiers were unaware of the previous alerts, and some were even sleeping in tanks.
The initial assumption was that it would be a quick operation to retrieve the kidnapped soldier; little did we know that it would evolve into the infamous abduction of Gilad Schalit, a haunting event etched in the memory of every Israeli.
Remarkably, during Gilad Schalit’s captivity, he never received a visit from the Red Cross, and even the glasses his parents sent through Egypt never reached him.
Hamas is a ruthless terrorist organization that doesn’t even spare its own people. I vividly recall the evening of the elections in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, when news reached our headquarters about Hamas members throwing Fatah officials from rooftops. This brutal act marked Hamas’ takeover of the Strip, where they executed and confirmed the killing of Palestinian Authority officials.
This incident reveals two grim implications. Today, they shoot at civilians to prevent them from seeking shelter in areas protected from IDF fire, using their own people as human shields. In their distorted view, even the lives of their own people hold more value than their own lives.
Rescuing hostages amidst war requires clear strategic goals
THIS TERRORIST organization, Hamas, shows no mercy, and for four long months, our captives have suffered in their clutches. Some were abducted while severely injured, others are elderly individuals, and some are young women of childbearing age who we know have been subjected to sexual assault during and after their capture.
Can we fathom the idea of hostages returning with infants in their arms? It is inconceivable, and we cannot allow it. The State of Israel must take responsibility and bring our captives home.
This is not a simple decision; it requires leadership. It demands negotiations aimed at restoring civilian security, governance, and leadership in our country.
We find ourselves at war as a nation, the result of years of failed leadership. Yet now, there seems to be a political campaign being waged at the expense of the hostages’ families, as the humanitarian action required to bring them home appears to contradict the strategic goals of the State of Israel.
Our government’s assertions are deceptive because it lacks clear strategic goals. On one hand, the government claims to want to dismantle Hamas, but on the other hand, it doesn’t want any other governing body to fill the void. As a country, we have lived in profound sorrow since October 7 while also standing resolute against those who seek to destroy us.
The United States has been our greatest friend since October 7 and continues to support us. Now it seems they are trying to save us from ourselves, particularly from contemptuous politicians who set the tone at the government’s table.
Nevertheless, I remain hopeful. There are more people who desire unity and collaboration than those leading us toward destruction.
The State of Israel will make the right decision – one that is both Jewish and humane. And with explicit and covert support from the US government, we will forge ahead in building a comprehensive security and diplomatic vision that has been neglected for far too long. We will rebuild trust, and we will do it together.
Those who choose to criticize and divide us will be excluded due to their repulsive nature.
The writer is the founder of Women Building an Alternative (Bonot Alternativa), a women’s rights social activist organization that seeks to promote social equality, empower women, and raise awareness of violence against women.