The cry of the families of the abductees reached the government compound on Saturday night. Even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at his friend's house, overlooking the wonderful view of Jerusalem's Old City, he heard them.
Tens of thousands accompanied the families on the five-day march from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Bring everyone home now, they cried out. The urgency stems from the fact that the cabinet is supposed to decide whether to accept Hamas' offer to release much less than the families hope.
Time begins to be a decisive factor. The families are concerned that two of the abductees, who arrived alive in Gaza, were murdered in captivity and their bodies returned to Israel after the IDF learned of their whereabouts. The justified fear is that Hamas murderers will harm the abductees as the negotiations drag on, and they will have to flee without the abductees. They also fear, and rightly so, that in the various scenarios of war it has been taken into account that this is what will happen and that this is the price they will have to absorb, like the soldiers killed in battle.
The question always arises whether to press and shout and lift up the whole world in order to free them, or whether we must sit still so as not to raise the price of their return. Because there are those who say that as the protests expand, it encourages Hamas to toughen its position, knowing that public opinion in Israel is powerful and leaders find it difficult to stand up to it. More than a decade ago, at the height of the public campaign for Gilad Shalit's release, I spoke with Geula Cohen and asked for her opinion. She said that her opinion had been solid since the time her son, Tzachi Hanegbi, served as a combat soldier in the paratroopers in the First Lebanon War in 1982, and that even then she said that if he was taken prisoner, she would scream in her full throat and demand that the prime minister return her only son immediately, no matter the cost. Then she added: And in that second I will also demand that he not listen to me.
Geula Cohen said that if Tzachi Hanegbi were captured, she would scream with all her throat and demand that the prime minister return her only son immediately, no matter the cost. Then she added: And at the same moment I will also demand that he not listen to me
Not all of us are Geula Cohen, and my heart is with the families of the abductees who are struggling to return their loved ones, now. In this regard, I was very moved by photographs posted on social media: the two brothers of the abducted Elyakim Libman fighting in Gaza, and in times of calm they leave graffiti on the houses: "My beloved son Elyakim, mother is waiting for you at home"; "Eliak, we're on our way"; "Eliak, until Atti arrived. A little more." And after I got excited, and passed on, I was reprimanded. What are you excited about, I was asked, after all, Hamas also reads the social networks, and they will take revenge on the kidnapper. I admit that my body was covered in cold sweat. And it was a distilled moment that I was left unable to think clearly about what was right and what wasn't. Whether to cry out or shut up. Whether to get excited or to fear the danger.
I will continue to go to the hostage square. I will continue to help people who have lost their homes and families as much as I can. That their good and beautiful lives have been turned upside down without any real possibility of influencing the course of things. Even the grandmother who asked to go to Gaza and offer to take her and bring her granddaughter back knows that this is impossible. It will be decided in an agreement, or a miracle will happen and IDF forces will find them and bring everyone home. The month of Kislev is the time to go back and believe in miracles.
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