The government is certainly responsible for the deaths of the hostages, but no more, and certainly no less, than its responsibility for Oct. 7 as a whole. The bulk of its culpability lies in the failure on that day itself, and less in what transpired afterward, at least regarding the hostages.
The Israeli government, Israel Defense Forces, and all those in positions of authority failed catastrophically to foresee the attack and to be prepared for it, or indeed for any major assault, before it occurred. This led us to a situation where dozens of Israelis are held captive by a ruthless enemy.
The day when approximately 1,200 Israelis were murdered and about 200 were kidnapped is the foundation of this failure. From there, we arrived at a situation where we are largely dependent on Hamas' "goodwill" in most aspects. Anyone examining the events should have long since understood that such goodwill never existed and never will. This is the core of the colossal failure. Anything beyond that is primarily the fruit of our frustrations and our preconceived political and ideological assumptions.
Hamas has consistently rejected any deal since November. With or without a Ramadan ceasefire, with or without Philadelphi, with delays in entering Rafah or after entering Rafah – ultimately, they hold the hostages, they decide whether to keep them alive or murder them, and they are, at the immediate level, the only ones who can control their fate. If the US administration is now openly saying that Hamas is the refuser, there is no logic in not believing it.
The notion that we, as a state, sometimes have no solution when there is another party with a will no less than ours to achieve the opposite, is unbearable for the average Israeli. Hamas holds the hostages in a way that makes a military rescue almost impossible. Hamas maintains positions regarding the continuation of the war against Israel that make a deal with them, especially one that doesn't include a clear victory for the murderous organization that it is, almost impossible.
These are two frustrating and sad basic facts that must underpin any discussion. Not everything is in our hands. Not everything depends on the strength of our will. This doesn't mean nothing should be done – and Israel is acting, both in negotiations where Israel's proposals to Hamas are far-reaching, and through military means.
It's permissible to criticize, and it's permissible to argue that more should have been done. One can argue that this or that clause is not worth insisting upon, or that the military pressure is insufficient. But ultimately, if we want to remain a sane society, we must recognize the basic fact: due to the October 7 failure, the fate of the hostages, in general, is not in our hands. Hamas carried out the kidnapping of Israelis on a massive scale to psychologically break Israeli society, recognizing its sensitivity to human life, and to bring about its internal rupture, and perhaps even unconditional surrender in the ongoing war.
When Hamas sees the nature of the Israeli discussion on the subject, the polarization caused by the preoccupation with the issue, it is achieving its goal from its perspective.
Hamas has no interest in releasing the hostages, and it's doubtful whether their release can be turned into an interest for them when they believe that holding them is a guarantee of their survival. The ones who kidnapped them, who didn't release them, who murdered them when fearing they would be released, are Hamas. We must always remember this. We must ensure that the fate of hundreds of Israelis will never again be in the hands of a murderous terrorist organization. And we must ensure that an organization that committed this atrocity, as part of the day of horrors ten months ago, does not emerge with the upper hand. Otherwise, we may find ourselves having this terrible discussion once again.
