In apparent U-turn, several leading religious Zionist rabbis call for hostage deal
Signatories include close advisers to Smotrich; letter urges government to reach ‘responsible’ agreement to free captives as ‘Jewish, moral and national duty of the first order’
Several leading rabbis of the right-wing religious Zionist community, including the father of Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, called on the government Tuesday to take any action necessary to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza — including striking “a responsible deal.”
The letter, whose 13 signatories include Ramat Gan Chief Rabbi Yaakov Ariel and leading hardliners such as settler leader Elyakim Levanon and Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, appears to represent an about-face for the rabbis, who in July signed an appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arguing that an agreement withdrawing troops from Gaza and swapping Palestinian prisoners for hostages would endanger more Israelis.
“Rescuing the hostages is a great mitzvah, a Jewish, moral and national duty of the first order,” wrote the rabbis, some of whom are considered close advisers to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, calling on the government “to act against Hamas with all the tools and means at its disposal to save the lives of our kidnapped brothers and sisters.
“We back the Israeli government in intensifying its actions with determination, courage, and bravery without delay to return all the hostages, in any way necessary,” including via “a responsible agreement – that according to the assessment of the political leadership and the security forces will not harm and endanger the security of the state, and in a way that will not allow the return of the Hamas terrorist threat from Gaza,” they continued.
Security officials are widely reported to believe the deal under discussion in recent months would not endanger national security.
The letter came a day after Israel marked a year since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on the south of the country that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The thousands of terrorists who burst through the border also abducted 251 people who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas and save the hostages.
Ceasefire proposals have been based on Israel stopping its military campaign, withdrawing its troops from some parts of Gaza, at least temporarily, and releasing hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
Hamas has sought to ensure Israel will not be able to renew the war later on, while Israel has refused to relinquish that right. The sides have also fought over whether Israel will maintain a presence on the Gaza-Egypt border, through which Hamas has over the years smuggled weaponry into the Strip.
Smotrich previously threatened to bolt the coalition if Israel agreed to a deal that entails “strategic concessions.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel’s security chiefs have urged Netanyahu to compromise more on the issue in order to save hostages’ lives. Mass public protests have also called on the government to ink a deal.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an umbrella group representing most of the families of captives, said in response to the letter that it “welcomes the important calls by the religious Zionist rabbis for the government to act without delay to return the hostages.”
Notably absent from the signatories of the appeal was ultranationalist settler leader Rabbi Dov Lior, who had signed the summer’s anti-deal letter. Lior is close to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the head of the Otzma Yehudit party, who has also warned he will leave the coalition if a deal is struck that halts the war against Hamas. Heritage Minister Eliyahu is also a member of Ben Gvir’s party.
However, with the recent addition of Gideon Sa’ar’s small National Unity party to the coalition, Ben Gvir taking out his 6-seat faction from the government would no longer bring it down, leaving it with 62 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
The July letter argued that the release of Palestinian security prisoners demanded by Hamas would enable the terror group to regroup and thus the dangers posed by a proposed deal at the time trumped the Jewish imperative to free captives.
The plight of the hostages and a deal for their release have recently been overshadowed by the flare-up in fighting in the north, where Israel is battling against Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Israel has moved its military focus to dealing with Hezbollah and restoring security to the border area, where tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes last October by Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks.
On Sunday, security officials warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there has been a steady decline in the quantity of intelligence being gathered on the hostages in Gaza, but that it is nevertheless clear that the conditions in which they are being held have deteriorated significantly.
It is believed that 101 hostages remain in Gaza. During the meeting, security officials reiterated the grim estimation shared last month that around half of the hostages are still alive and said those who have survived until now are experiencing steadily worsening conditions.
Participants in the meeting were provided with an update regarding the progress — or lack thereof — on the indirect hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Sources privy to the details of the discussion reported that negotiations have remained at an impasse, with mediator Qatar reportedly distancing itself from Israel’s stance and moving closer to Hamas’s stated demands for a deal.
Hamas, meanwhile, issued a statement on Sunday, declaring that the group was not prepared to make concessions on its demands for a deal, which include a call for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip — something that Israel has said it is not prepared to do.
Another apparent cause for stalled negotiations was the disappearance of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding out in Hamas tunnels beneath Gaza. After weeks of silence that led to speculation he was dead, Sinwar again made contact with hostage mediators, according to reports Monday.
A senior Israeli official told the Walla news site it does not seem that Sinwar has in any way softened his positions on a deal.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.