A demonstrator holds white balloons with the faces of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing cabinet on them, while others carry torches and Israeli flags at a protest calling for an end to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip Jan. 11, 2025, in Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Photo by Mario Grimes/Getty Images

Contributing Columnist Sruli Fruchter January 15, 2025

The Israeli government failed its hostages for 467 days. Only today, as news breaks of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, is it clear that this was more than a failure — it was a callous betrayal.

The hostage deal announced today — more than 15 months after Hamas’ massacre on Oct. 7 — is the same one that was presented to Israel more than eight months ago, in May. It’s a deal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found ways to scupper at the time, saying he would “not agree to any proposal that ends the war.”

What changed?

The answer: politics.

To be clear, this is a moment of ecstasy over the hostages’ expected release — a day that I, like many others, prayed for every day. But my heart is also consumed by another emotion: shame, for my complicity in the Israeli government’s indifference toward our brothers and sisters in captivity.

Politics is why too many hostages will be or have been returned to their loved ones as corpses, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat and Almog Sarusi, all of whom were murdered by Hamas in September. For those of us, like me, who truly believed that the only party holding up negotiations was Hamas, not Israel — and that Hamas needed to be decisively destroyed before the war could end — this realization is devastating.

I say none of this to absolve Hamas of its barbarism, but to recognize that the ultimate responsibility to save the hostages lay with the Israeli government.

‘Shame’

I first attended a rally calling for the hostages’ release nearly a year ago, in March 2024. It felt meaningful, and powerful. But I was bothered by a convincing critique I had repeatedly heard: Yes, the hostages needed to be saved, but Hamas needed to be destroyed, and any deal that left them with any power was unacceptable.

I slowly bought into that narrative, and stopped attending the hostage rallies. It seemed clear that Hamas’ survival in Gaza would be a disaster for Israel. The unequivocal chants of “iskah achshav!” — “Deal now!” failed to consider the circumstances preventing Israel from reaching an agreement. Never mind that Israeli officials never clearly defined how, exactly, Hamas’ complete destruction might be achieved; that senior IDF officials said such a goal was neither feasible nor necessary; and that every day delaying the hostages’ return risked their lives. I was convinced that Israel had a strategic mandate to put a decisive end to the terrorist scourge on our border.

But as ceasefire talks appeared closer and closer to a resolution, I had to confront how misled I was.

Netanyahu’s government has all but officially accepted a deal that will leave Hamas in power in Gaza — an outcome I never anticipated. It’s clear, now, that the narrative regurgitated by him and his band of sycophants has always been far from the truth.

“In the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time,” boasted Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu’s far-right national security minister, on Tuesday. “Netanyahu thwarted a deal for a year to protect his government,” he added today.

Ben-Gvir has threatened to leave Netanyahu’s coalition if the deal is approved; after Netanyahu added new members to his coalition in November, it’s clear that part of what’s changed in his calculus is his belief that he needs the support of Ben-Gvir and his far-right allies to hold onto power. That November shift shows that Netanyahu and his government chose to prolong this war and risk soldiers’ lives unnecessarily. They failed us before Oct. 7, they failed us on Oct. 7, and they have failed us since.

One of the common chants I heard at the hostage rallies was a single word: “busha” — “shame.” At the time, it was directed at the Israeli government. But now, as I reckon with the false narrative I was persuaded to believe, I hear its ringing accusation directed at me.

A call for moral reflection

When the living hostages step out of the Red Cross trucks that will return them home — and the dead are carried out, to finally be buried by their grieving families — I, and every Israeli and Israeli ally who was compelled by the government’s official narrative, will have to reckon with our personal betrayal of these innocents.

Yes, we were lied to by Netanyahu, and yes, we had no real influence to force a deal. But we could have kept our focus on the most immediate human concern we had — rescuing our fellow citizens — over vaguely outlined politics. For months, I have worn yellow bands on my wrist reading “Our heart is trapped in Gaza” and “#BringThemHomeNow.” Over time, the words were rubbed out; all that’s left are faded black speckles.

I always thought I would remove these bands once the hostages returned home. I now plan to wear them indefinitely, as a reminder of the price we pay when we listen to politicians — instead of our hearts.

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