Hostage Nation
Yossi Klein Halevi and Donniel Hartman on how this hostage situation differs from any Israel has faced in its history
By the third day of the ceasefire, Hamas had released 58 hostages, 40 of them Israeli, in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners.
While Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi celebrate the captives’ return to their families, they take note of the ways that this hostage situation is different from any the nation has faced in its history.
They also consider how this moment challenges the Zionist ethos and explore the dilemmas the country will face as this 4-day truce agreement reaches an end. Will Israel risk the chance to redeem the rest of its captives safely if it returns to fighting against Hamas?
For Heaven’s Sake is a podcast from the Shalom Hartman Institute’s iEngage Project that revives the lost art of Jewish debate for the sake of illuminating a topic, not sowing division. The podcast draws its name from the concept of machloket l’shem shemayim, “Disagreeing for the sake of heaven.”
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