350 authors call on Netanyahu to end war, reach deal to return all hostages

Three hundred and fifty Israeli authors call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and bring the 59 remaining hostages home.

The signatories include David Grossman, Shifra Horn, Fania Oz-Salzberger, Yehoshua Sobol, Ilan Sheinfeld, Zeruya Shalev, and other authors, poets, editors, translators, illustrators and literary professionals.

“Hamas has offered a deal for returning hostages, prisoner release, and a ceasefire. The prime minister outlined a phased deal but has done everything possible for the past seventeen months to thwart the agreement, fearing the war’s end would mean the end of his rule—and his freedom as a criminal defendant,” states the letter.

“For the sake of his liberty, fearful of incarceration for his pending indictments, the prime minister continues to rob the hostages of their freedom, endanger IDF soldiers, and inflict disproportionate harm on Gaza’s civilian population — all while escalating a constitutional coup within Israel,” they write.

“In doing so, the prime minister is violating the most fundamental values of a just society and democratic nation, as well as the founding principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. He is eroding mutual responsibility, equality, and justice, and turning us from equal citizens in a functioning democracy into subjects of an authoritarian theocracy — where we are obligated to serve in the army, sacrifice our children to the ruling idol, but are denied equal rights, mutual responsibility, and the justice and security a democratic state owes its citizens.”

The signatories also mention that the prime minister has railed against the supposed refusal of certain reservists to serve, but he and his ministers are legally and financially enabling sweeping exemption from service for the ultra-Orthodox, allowing them to shirk responsibility for Israel’s security and future.

“This war endangers the lives of IDF soldiers, of the hostages, and causes horrific suffering for helpless civilians in Gaza,” write the authors. “The acts being committed in Gaza and the occupied territories are not done in our name, but they will be on our account. We call on you to immediately stop the war, to return all the hostages home, and to chart a future international and agreed-upon path for Gaza.”

The letter states that most of the signatories have served in the IDF and contributed to building the State of Israel, its culture, and its literature.