On Wednesday it was announced that a hostage agreement had finally been reached. The war doesn’t end until the last hostage comes home, but we are hopeful.

The Deal

The details of the agreement are many, however ultimately the culmination of the ceasefire would result in all Israeli hostages being released.

The first phase of the agreement takes place over 42 days. Throughout this time, once a few Israeli hostages will be released – though not all will be alive. Ten of the 33 individuals being released in the first phase of the agreement are believed to be dead.

The initial group of living hostages to be released during the first phase of the agreement will be women, children, the elderly, and the infirmed. In addition, there are reports (though unconfirmed) that on the first day of the agreement, the Bibas babies, Kfir and Ariel, will be released. True to their brutish nature, Hamas has kept secret whether or not these children are alive.

As human life is paramount in the Jewish faith and amongst Israeli society, Jerusalem is willing to make excruciatingly difficult choices in order to bring her hostages home. For over a year this has included sending her best, brightest and bravest to fight in the sands of Gaza. Now it means trading Palestinian terrorists, some of whom are serving life sentences, in return for the innocent Israeli hostages.

For every civilian hostage Hamas releases, Israel will trade 30 terrorist-convicts who are either female or under the age of 19. For every female Israeli soldier release, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian female security prisoners.

Israel has also agreed to limited withdrawals from certain areas within Gaza and deceased military activity key areas. Hamas has likewise agreed just stop attacking the Jewish state; it goes without saying but Israel will keep her end of the bargain until Hamas violates the same.

During the coming weeks, the details of the second and third phases of the agreement, also six weeks in duration, are to be finalized. It is during the second stage of the agreement that all Israeli hostages – including soldiers – would finally be released, but only after a permanent cease-fire has taken effect.

We are quite skeptical that Hamas will keep their end of the bargain, mostly because in its four nearly  decades of existence, Hamas has never kept their end of any agreement.

Likewise, we share the trepidation of so many throughout Israel and America, including Jerusalem, that comes with making a deal it’ll be through intermediaries with a terrorist organization. Nonetheless, we know that bringing the hostages home does not come without risk and sacrifice.

Make no mistake: in order to save the innocents trapped in Hamas’s underground hellscape, the Israelis have had to make immense sacrifices and have had to take extreme risks – both at the individual and the national level. But the Jewish state will never leave its people behind.  And neither will we. As for we and our house we stand with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – we stand with Israel.

What’s Next

This initial agreement is not an end to the war; Hezbollah’s destruction is not the end of Shia terrorism in Lebanon, and Hamas’s destruction will not end the evil aspirations of so many to wipe Israel off the map.

Moreover, it’s worth recalling that had Jerusalem listened to Washington, Paris, London, Madrid, etc… the war would still be raging, no hostages would be coming home, Hamas and Hezbollah would still exist as military forces, and the Butcher of Damascus would still hold power in Syria.

The war is not over but bucking the foreign policy elites enabled Israel to achieve unthinkable military successes. Washington must internalize and act on that knowledge. And even though the election is over, our elected officials must vote in line with their stated support for Israel.

This begins with ensuring Israel has the necessary weaponry to defend herself and defeat the terrorists few else in the world have the will to fight.

Likewise, our leaders in Washington must take tangible, meaningful, and robust steps to defeat the wildfire of antisemitism that has scorched so many corners of the United States and the world. This means advancing the Antisemitism Awareness Act, and the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act without delay – no excuses.

There are those who claim to love Israel, who speak about their passion for the Jewish state on stages and on the floor of the United States Congress, and yet, some of those who profess such love for the Apple of God’s Eye voted against aid to the Jewish state while she fought terror, opposed legislation defending Jewish students against the onslaught of antisemitism on the American College campus, and found manufactured fault with efforts to destroy the BDS movement, despite their arguments being disproven either in the court of law or by the Word of God (at times both).

So, what’s next? It’s a new day in Washington and the Middle East, but there will be challenges, and we will be paying attention.  Make no mistake, there will be no political quarter given to Israel’s adversaries – including those who claim to love Israel but don’t act on it. Love is not what you say, it’s what you do.

Sincerely,

The CUFI action Fund team