It is not clear who are the geniuses who decided, precisely now, with the return of thousands of reservists to the houses and streets, to return the Israeli debate to the ugliest and lowest places.
One thing is clear: these geniuses have not worn uniforms in the past months, have not volunteered in one of the military forces, and they probably do not have a child warrior who eats Cabanos pasta under any circumstances.
The reservists return with one certainty beating in their hearts, and that is: "I wish this country functioned like our company."
Most of the reservists I met believe that the company is a model company.
And they are not from the same company at all.
They are armorers or gunners, infantrymen or engineers. But somehow it's still the same company. A few dozen people, Jerusalemites and Rashlatim, kibbutzniks and settlers, who you know will give everything they have and more for you.
A visit to a company party, on the occasion of the short farewell until the next deployment, was enough for me to understand what a hard landing awaits the fighters who return to the wretched reality of the blame game.
Here we are back there, as if we didn't have October 7 at all, since it became clear that no one is going to accept responsibility and resign.
The current hit in the debate is, without a doubt, "You make Sinwar happy."
He lashes out at anyone who dares to call for the release of the abductees, or simply to express the fact that he is not completely satisfied with the conduct of the State of Israel.
So who makes Sinwar happy for us?
The Prime Minister claims that the brains that disrupted the Finance Committee made Sinwar happy.
Anyone who supports the deal makes the enemy happy and even strengthens him, which is a terrible thing to do in wartime.
But those who demonize the Shin Bet like MK Gottlieb, or just make orchestrated jokes about the Chief of Staff in every review; those who call for the dismissal of Elon Levy, the wonderful and rare speaker with Oxford English and expressive eyebrows, because he supported the protest - is it possible that they Making Hamas happy? Tipha'la? Grace and peace, and why? These strengthen and strengthen the strength of our national spirit, and depress to death the Haniyeh, Sinwar and the other murderers who live in the camps.
So if it's important to you to get things in order, and to understand once and for all who is to blame for everything that happened here, and what makes Sinwar happy, I present as a service to the public the gist of the list, and as requested in the spirit of Julie Andrews' song in "The Sound of Music":
"The Fakir sign, a rally at Kaplan / Ronen Tzur's speech, a CD at the Kan studio / another march and songs in the square / these are things that make Sinwar happy..."
(The song is still in its infancy, and our talented readers are invited to add verses)
The current hit in the debate is, without a doubt, "You make Sinwar happy", illustration: Nadav Macheta
• • •
The more we hear about some kind of deal to release the abductees, the more the tension will increase, and the debate will become many times more blatant and acrimonious.
This should come as no surprise.
Since October 7, and to be precise - since the end of October, when the Israeli government began to intervene in the event, many efforts have been made to conflict between the families of the abductees and themselves, and between them and the general public that supports the government.
The investment, we must admit, has proven itself.
There are often conflicts and tensions.
The families who behaved with nobility and patience are already considered the enemies of the people, and kudos to the talented leaders whose superpower is arrogance.
Israel already knows it needs a different leadership, with other superpowers.
I do not underestimate the arguments against the deal.
I have a problem with the rhetoric.
The considerations deal with the price that Israel will have to pay, a price that in any case will be high and very unpleasant.
This is mainly because serious mistakes are paid dearly.
And the failure of the last Simchat Torah is, in the opinion of most of us, the most serious and difficult of all Israel's failures for generations.
A balloon symbolizing the struggle of the kidnapped families, illustration: GettImages
Either way, we must remind those who tend to forget: the families of the abductees are not to blame for their loved ones being in Gaza.
They are also not to blame for the fact that they really, really want the grandparents, fathers and sisters to come home already.
And "now" is also very late, a monstrous delay that tears the soul.
One of the main arguments against a deal is the one that mentions that in most cases the terrorists who are released do not become Zionists or just exemplary family members.
No, in most cases they remain damned terrorists, and more than once they will try to kill us.
Those who claim so have a long list of examples.
Those freed from previous deals were indeed involved in the attacks, and there is no doubt that such people are better off rotting behind bars.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that we must not let the enemy infiltrate our settlements by the thousands and kidnap Israelis at will.
But if we admit the truth, the terrorist organizations do not have a personnel problem.
There is also no problem of motivation, and if there were no participants in the attack freed from some kind of deal, then others would have participated in it.
It is not the terrorists' vehicle that is our problem, but the holes in the defense.
And if we did decide that from now on and forever no one will come near our fence, and no one will test our patience, it is completely irresponsible or irresponsible to support the deal.
Another argument that is thrown at families is more emotional and aimed, forgive me, a little below the belt.
The question is: why are you unable to be like these heroic and noble families, who from the first moment refused to complain and explicitly said that they were ready to sacrifice and pay the price?
I have two answers to this position.
The first is fundamental.
In my negligible military service, I got to serve as a team commander, while one of the soldiers would tell me something like "If I get injured, I demand that you leave me in the field", I would tell him that he is a hottie and that I adore him, but I don't really ask him.
The principle that "we do not leave wounded in the field" is a value and is not up for negotiation, and if he is injured then we will turn him in and take care of him - even if it endangers the force and delays the movement.
• • •
I promised two answers, and the second one is less pleasant to me.
I will deliver it, then, in a parable, and it may be a little harsh.
Well, it sometimes happens in some family that one of the uncles discovers that he is sick with a malignant and terrible disease.
The doctor tells him that he has a few months left to live, and even in them his quality of life will be quite poor.
The same uncle, pardon the simplistic allegory, writes a farewell letter, takes a gun and shoots himself in the head.
At the funeral, all the shocked family members tell how noble it was on the uncle's part to take his own life and not fall into the burden and trouble.
But in the corner of the room at "Sheva" sits another aunt.
She too, it turns out, is dealing with a terrible disease.
Oh my, she tells herself.
I have no intention of shooting myself in the head.
Do I owe anyone an apology?
Am I supposed to feel really bad about myself now?
Are family members going to slander me and call me egotistical, petty and hedonistic?
This, more or less, is how my relatives feel in front of the heroic displays of sacrifice that are thrown at them.
The right of family members not to be angry.
They are allowed to believe that no one abandoned their son.
But they have no right to demand from others to adopt their position and believe that there was no neglect.
They have no right to call others individualists or hedonists just because they claim to redeem their loved ones who are in trouble and captivity.
Every time they come back and say "we love our son just as much as you do", they should remember that the other families love the State of Israel just as much as they do.
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