1.
We are the children of summer 1982. We still remember the demonstrations against the Peace for Galilee War (first Lebanon war), the accusations "Begin is a murderer!", the unified media line against eliminating the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist group, the intolerance toward different opinions and violence against those who thought differently; meetings between Israeli journalists and the greatest murderer of Jews after the Holocaust, Yasser Arafat, during the siege of Beirut! The laurels were tied to "brave" journalists; the anti-war demonstrations, including the so-called 400,000-person rally in Kings of Israel Square following a pogrom committed by Christian Arabs against Muslim Arabs, like today, the Jews were blamed. We remember.
Why remember? Go outside, look around you, at television screens, printed newspapers, radio waves, social networks – the same evil spirit of summer '82 is forcing itself upon us in summer 2025.
2.
But the world has changed. Even if newspapers aligned themselves and bought the false narrative of the "general strike for hostages" organizers, the public has distanced itself. The PLO of '82 was an unfulfilled promise, whoever held the olive branch for the dove that would come. Since then, the promise has been fulfilled, and we are all graduates of its school of death. It came in autumn 1993 with the Oslo Accords that transformed our existence by bringing tens of thousands of criminals who swore to destroy us, disguised as policemen. Their purpose was to protect us... from themselves.
And then came the explosions and suicide attacks following the disastrous disengagement from Gaza Strip where we destroyed flourishing settlements, not knowing that the countdown to October 7 had begun, which of course surprised us; since we convinced ourselves during a generation that on the other side were rational people, who preferred their welfare over death, destruction and devastation ("the conception"). We were wrong. But we didn't make sufficient repentance.
3.
The reckless strike day pointed to the unthinkable: segments of these wise people, who remember their destruction even 2,600 years back, forgot October 7 and surrendered to pornographic emotional discourse about the hostages, as if the protest would advance their return. Hamas observes the pressure directed only toward Israel's government and calculates: Why compromise?
Here are some of the conditions for their return: Israel's complete withdrawal, including from the perimeter; Hamas remaining in power; streaming billions for reconstruction managed by Hamas; wholesale release of terrorists who participated in the massacre; international guarantees that Israel won't attack even if Hamas grows stronger. Even the hostages won't be returned in full; some will remain in Hamas' hands as collateral until completion of the deal's terms. A protest "for the hostages"? Absolutely not! A protest for reckless surrender that puts our future in question.
4.
How political the strike was can be seen in the protest margins. Here, the "Geneva Initiative" – a radical body that was flush with budgets and marketed the delusional idea of a Palestinian state on the mountain ridge, Gaza on steroids above us – published a map of protest centers and added: "Protests throughout the country, and there isn't even one settlement demonstrating for hostage release." Nice, right?
The mountain ridge pioneers sent their sons to war to free the hostages. They sacrificed their lives for them more than any other sector. On October 7, they rushed to defend the Gaza border communities and were killed in battles, sometimes with only a pistol. Now comes the gang of lunatics promoting Islamic replacement, inciting against them.
5.
The path to hostage release passes through complete conquest of the Gaza Strip, Hamas elimination, and the release of all our hostages. The reckless campaign to weaken Israel on the backs of our hostages won't succeed. Most Israeli citizens oppose the politicization of the hostage issue and surrender. Our people's ancient tradition doesn't encourage prisoner redemption through surrender, except when we are in exile. The Bible teaches that when we could, we went to war to free captives. Our sages further taught: "We don't redeem captives for more than their worth, for the sake of repairing the world" ("Tikun Olam") – so that not every Israeli becomes a potential kidnapping victim in the next attack. Repairing the world means redeeming our hostages by force. All of them! The pressure must now turn only toward Hamas, forward to Gaza conquest. Move, move, end.
