On Monday, we learned of the tragic death of IDF Capt. Omer Neutra (of blessed memory). Capt. Neutra was an American born Israeli tank commander and was thought to be among the hostages held by
Hamas, but the IDF announced that he was killed, defending Israel on October 7th.
Capt. Neutra’s parents spoke at the CUFI Washington Summit this past July. There words will never leave us, and we are heartbroken to learn that he was killed.
His death makes even more important, President-elect Donald Trump’s stark warning to Hamas that the hostages need to be released before he takes office - or else. Unfortunately, the remaining leadership of Hamas doesn’t seem to understand their new reality.
In this week’s edition of the Action Update, we discuss Israel’s updated military and diplomatic posture in the wake of the ceasefire with Lebanon, and its implications for Hamas’s continued intransigence.
A Middle Eastern Ceasefire
In the Middle East, ceasefires don’t work the way they do elsewhere in the world. At least not as it pertains to Israel. Each and every time, Israel and Palestinian terrorists agree to some sort of cessation of violence, within hours the terrorists violate the agreement, and the world seems to expect Israel to endure such injury.
As a result, Israel would often suffer these sporadic attacks in the hours and even days following a ceasefire with little response. But the world changed on October 7th; the old status quo will never return.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah launched a mortar attack on Israel after the ceasefire. In response, and in accordance with the terms of the agreement, Israel laid to waste a number of Hezbollah military targets.
The Biden administration allegedly told Jerusalem to “calm down” after the exchange of fire which indicates that they did not listen when the Israeli’s cautioned that the old rules of the Middle Eastern pseudo-ceasefire would no longer apply.
Jerusalem has made good on that promise and will continue to do so.
There will be no terrorists south of Litani river in Lebanon. There will be no more rockets, mortars or missiles fired at the Jewish state from Lebanese territory. Lebanon can no longer be a staging ground for Iran’s genocidal war against the Jewish people.
Hamas Has a Problem
Shocking as it may be to the terrorists and the foreign policy elites, Israel, it seems, has adopted the same zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and invasion as every other country on earth. For Hamas, this is an unexpected and unwelcome development. Hamas fully anticipated surviving this conflict. And not just the individual leaders (who have not survived), but the organization as a whole.
Hamas once governed the Gaza Strip. Like their venomous cousins in Hezbollah, they were both a political and military power in a select territory. And they believed that by taking hostages no matter what the Israelis could do, the IDF wouldn’t go so far as to render Hamas little more than a heavily armed street gang. Yet that is exactly what Jerusalem has done.
Israel will do just about anything to see her hostages returned home, but she will not commit war crimes, nor will she empower Hamas through yet another one-sided pseudo-ceasefire.
Some of us were under the mistaken impression that with the death of the 10/7 masterminds, like Yahya Sinwar, the average Gazan (or even Gazan terrorist) holding an innocent hostage would realize they had lost and release the hostage in return for what would effectively be amnesty. But that hasn’t happened.
For many in Gaza, they would still rather destroy Jewish lives than build their own.
Dealing with Devils
Israel would trade money and amnesty for hostages because it’s a Jewish and democratic state; life is of paramount value. This said, Jerusalem made a deal with Lebanon knowing full well Hezbollah would violate it.
Why? Or better yet, how do you make a deal with someone who’s obsessed with killing you? Well, the Israelis have shown us the way. Israel’s victories in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War led directly to peace with Egypt, and later with Jordan.
For Israel, the key to peace is victory. In accordance with Jewish tradition, Jerusalem would make deals with the terrorists to save a human life – such as the release of a hostage. But in the long-term, Israel is increasingly shifting away from short term cessations of violence (in the hopes they will lead to long-term peace), and instead is bringing her enemies to their knees.
Just as in years past, Israel will still have to be the one who sues for peace, but they’ll do so from a similar position of strength that enabled peace with other former adversaries in the region.
The bottom line, you don’t deal with devils – you defeat them. And with your support and CUFI’s assistance, that is exactly what Jerusalem will do.
Sincerely,
The CUFI Action Fund Team
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