Hostages
The first thought went to Ruchama Buchbut, mother of Elkana; to his young son Raam; and to his wife Rivka, the fearless Colombian lioness. When former hostage Ohad Ben-Ami met her after his release earlier this year, he spoke slowly, and she asked why. "Elkana told me your Hebrew wasn't great," he said. She laughed, over the course of the struggle, she had learned the language fluently. Now Elkana would get a finer Israeli version of his wife.
And then thoughts turned to Silvia Cunio, who would get her David and Ariel back. To Talia Berman, reunited with Gali and Ziv. To Lishi Lavi-Miran, who had been campaigning in the US when the news broke, now set to receive Omri, father of Roni and Alma, son of Dani, who could finally shave and return to Yesud Hamaala after two hated years in Tel Aviv.
To Anat and Haggai Angrest, and Einav Tzangauker, who would welcome back both their Matans, one heading south, the other north to watch his beloved Maccabi Haifa, which made a green pin in his honor. To modest Galit Kalphon, getting back her Shagev in Dimona. To Kobi and Idit Ohel, who could now tend to Alon's eye and hear his piano come alive again.
To Tzvika Mor, who took a different, resolute line. always remembering to bless his captive son Eitan on Shabbat and holidays. To the noble Galia David, whose son Evyatar dug his own grave in Hamas' tunnels. To Gal Gilboa-Dalal, who had been with his brother Guy at the Nova festival, one kidnapped, the other escaped, and hadn't exhaled since.
To Vicky Cohen, whose son Nimrod would return, his brother Yotam said this week what he missed most were their little arguments. To the families of Avinatan Or, Rom Breslavsky, Maksim Herkin, Bar Kuperstein, and Yosef Chaim Ohana. And to Ruti Horn, who would receive her son Eitan, eight months after she welcomed back Yair, and finally get to use the new bed she had bought for him.
And to the 28 families of hostages confirmed dead. Some will get certainty, a grave to visit. Others will be left with doubt. Herut Nimrodi, mother of soldier Tamir kidnapped from the Erez base and missing since an IDF strike early in the war, said this week she feared both knowing for sure he was dead, and the even greater fear of never knowing.
There will be more families left in the dark, 7 to 9, according to one report; 10 to 15, by another. Israel will swear itself to their fate, turning over every stone. Some may yet be found, and others will remain hidden, like Ron Arad, whose daughter-in-law Tami was vocal in the struggle to return the hostages, and whose clear voice reminded Israelis of the cost of leaving them behind. Early this week, she wrote on Facebook: "Without the protesters' Sisyphean fight, going on three years now, Trump would never have told the world that most Israelis want the war to end. Without the protests, Trump would never have called the hostages our hostages."
Trump
Already during the previous election campaign, Trump promised to bring all the hostages home. In January, the incoming US president fulfilled the first part of that promise. He then turned to other matters—Russia, China, tariffs—but now, he's refocused on Israel. Maybe it's the Nobel Peace Prize committee's deadline. Maybe it's pressure from the West, the Arab world, and especially Qatar after Israel's strike in Doha. Or maybe it's just that basic human pledge: to bring everyone home.
After months of letting both sides stall,, really stalling themselves, Trump finally told them: Game over. He didn't care who said what, who promised what. "Here's the deal. Sign it and we move forward. Reject it and bear the consequences." Both sides understood. And they signed, knowing full well that the alternative was worse: risking the wrath of Trump, never a good idea.
On Friday, the world will know whether Trump receives the prize. Betting agencies don't give him great odds, but he more than deserves it. The agreement he brokered not only brought together two sides who wanted nothing to do with each other; it was also a masterclass in personal power and US global strength. Make America Great Again—this time, it really was. The US was the biggest player on the world stage.
Trump wants the prize because part of him, the childlike part, craves constant recognition. But the real prize is the agreement itself. The hostages who will be freed. The war that will end. And maybe—just maybe—the grand agreement still to come. If he really manages to bring the Muslim world from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia on board, it would be the ultimate Nobel. If it includes a new path on Syria and Lebanon, all the better. And if Gaza truly changes, no more Hamas, a new regime without military capabilities, then everything Trump says about himself might finally be true.
Gaza
Israel didn't achieve total victory. But it did achieve the greatest victory possible, and did so long ago, more than a year back. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers will say Israel met all its goals. If that helps them accept the agreement, so be it. It's a good thing Israel had Trump, he brought some sanity back before the country became completely toxic and lost its remaining ability to fight.
This week's images of Hamas leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, chief among them Khalil al-Hayya, were infuriating. Not just the failed assassination attempt that effectively gave them immunity, but the official recognition they received, alongside Americans, as equals to Israel. Their agreement now stems from that recognition and from their belief that time is on their side. We sprint. They run marathons.
Hamas was not eliminated. It was badly damaged in Gaza, and it will try to rebuild, especially in Judea and Samaria, and especially through the prisoners now set to be released. Israel insisted that "symbols" of Hamas not be included, but knows full well that among those freed are the group's future leaders. The next Yahya Sinwar is already planning the next October 7.
In that sense, the test against Hamas is just beginning. So is the test with Gaza. Trump and his team were wise to separate the two parts of the deal: one for the hostages (and the terrorists to be released), the other for ending the war, demilitarizing Gaza, and rebuilding it. The world will now focus less on tunnels and weapons and more on the hundreds of billions needed to put Gaza and its people back on their feet.
Israel must focus more on those tunnels and weapons, so Hamas doesn't rise again, and so the country is never caught off guard.
In the agreement it signed, the Israeli government let go of several dreams. The first was expelling Gaza's population (which had led to various outrageous statements and plans. The second was rebuilding settlements. The third was a permanent IDF presence deep inside Gaza. The fourth was controlling 2 million Palestinians. The fifth, perhaps the most important, was a future Gaza regime without the Palestinian Authority.
These dreams often contradicted each other (expulsion versus control), but the last one deserves the most attention. Israel's interest is for the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza. It has both capability and motivation. It enjoys international legitimacy. And crucially, it hates Hamas as much as Israel does, remembering how its men were thrown off rooftops during Hamas' 2007 takeover of the Strip.
The Palestinian Authority is a problematic partner (school curricula, terrorist prisoner funding), but it's the only one Israel can work with without having to carry Gaza on its own shoulders. This was known from the beginning, and it's a shame it took so long to happen.
Israel
Some argue the deal saved Hamas at the last minute. That just a bit more pressure would have snapped its spine. That's a claim in need of evidence. After two years of war—where we were repeatedly told "just Gaza," then "just Khan Younis," then "just Rafah," and again "just Gaza"—there's probably no single moment when a clear "snap" would be heard. Because it's doubtful anyone really knows what victory looks like in this kind of war against this kind of enemy.
It's possible that it was actually Israel saved at the last minute. Not just from Trump's wrath, but from a whole host of simultaneous dangers: growing international pressure that brought real sanctions and embargoes threatening every Israeli, alongside surging antisemitism threatening every Jew; Arab pressure endangering peace with Egypt and Jordan and the Abraham Accords; pressure on the IDF, struggling under physical and emotional strain and running low on arms and spare parts; and internal pressures tearing Israel apart, returning it in many ways to October 6, the eve of war.
Commentators and polls will debate who gained and lost politically from the war's end. Right now, that seems less important. The deal allows the entire country to catch its breath. Yes, there will still be worries and dangers on all fronts, but that's the norm here.
With the long war over, Israel can finally address what needs fixing. And there's a lot: rehabilitating the IDF, passing a new conscription law, restoring Israel's global standing (maybe even building a proper public diplomacy apparatus at last), and establishing a long-delayed national inquiry commission to learn from the failures and prevent the next war.
Many questions remain, at least for now. What will the Houthis do, having joined the war because of Gaza, but now fighting entirely on their own terms? What will Iran do, as attention returns to it and a possible resumption of its war with Israel? What will European countries do, having demanded an end to the war, will they now lift restrictions on Israel and restore some sanity to their streets? And, of course, what will our own politicians do, many of whom thrived on war, delayed all other matters in its name, and now must return to their offices, and our problems.
October 7
The national ceremony broadcast at the end of Sukkot showed where the people stand. The agreement signed the next day aligns, albeit belatedly, with that sentiment. But it can't erase or conceal what happened, nor will it succeed in doing so. Despite the shameful silence of most ministers on the date, October 7 is here. And it will always be here.
Even after the hostages are no longer held (and sadly, some will remain as fallen captives), this war will stay with us. Nearly 2,000 dead and murdered, close to 20,000 wounded, tens of thousands psychologically scarred, thousands displaced, businesses shattered, families broken—the staggering price paid on personal, communal, and national levels.
Before the victory parades begin and the political campaigns heat up ahead of elections, we must remember those who made it all possible, especially the IDF, Shin Bet and police officers who fell in battle. The IDF is still in Gaza. The situation remains fragile and dangerous. Forces must stay hyper-alert in this most vulnerable moment, both literally and figuratively. Still, it's impossible not to think of Nahal Brigade Sgt. First Class Chalchao Shimon Damlash, who fell last week in Gaza and will forever be the final casualty of Operation Iron Swords, just as Tzachi Itach, who fell in 2000, was the final casualty of the First Lebanon War.
"Boys shouted because it was over," wrote Haim Hefer during the War of Independence. And now too, autumn's leaves are falling. Simchat Torah is nearly here, two years since that Simchat Torah when it all began. Let us hope it ends. But in the Middle East, nothing ever truly ends. As the cliché goes: this isn't the end. It's barely the end of the beginning.
