Too High a Price

Israel must not surrender to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

Hamas parades one of its trophies: Israeli American Keith Siegel. Courtesy of his hosts, one of his arms was blown off. Glory to Palestine! Death to the Jews!

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I have to admit that I wrestled with my conscience before setting down these words. Who am I to say what follows? I’m not a Jew. Though I can imagine, I cannot feel in my gut, what the Jews feel about October 7, 2023, and subsequent events. As an American of Irish extraction, I have been blessed with immunity from such horrors. Irish history is tragic enough, but by the time I was born it was a fading memory.

But here and now, the Jews find themselves face to face with an historical evil that reproduces itself from generation to generation. Sometimes it seems to me, indeed, that hatred of the Jews is encoded in humanity’s DNA. The present upsurge of antisemitism in America makes use of the vocabulary of postmodern dogma, but it boils down to the same old story: The Jews, alone among the peoples of the earth, are condemned to be strangers, alien interlopers, a corrupting influence wherever they appear.

Israel’s existence, its heroic foundation as a sovereign Jewish state, is a testament to the reality of that great and abiding evil. Israel grounds the Jews, waters their roots in the soil of their ancient homeland, arms them against their enemies, and proclaims—Never Again!

For that very reason, Israel cannot allow its hostages in the hands of Hamas to deter it from eradicating Hamas and eliminating its tyranny over the Gaza Strip.

That the families of those hostages cannot see beyond their desire and hope for the safe return of their loved ones, I understand. But theirs cannot be—must not be—the determining word. For where is the line to be drawn? How much must the government of Israel concede to secure the release of the hostages? Shall Hamas be suffered to survive? If it is, how many more Jewish lives will that genocidal death cult snuff out in the months and years to come? Scores, certainly. Hundreds, probably. Thousands, possibly.

But that cannot be. The loss of the war against Hamas is too high a price for Israel to pay for the lives of the surviving hostages.

This is a hard saying, I know. As I understand it, the ransoming of hostages is a Jewish religious duty. And as I can well understand, many Israelis regard the release of the hostages as a top priority. But no. What matters now is the extirpation of the Islamofascist, terrorist organization that perpetrated the October 7, 2023, pogrom. That may well entail the death of all the hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas. But how many more lives—Jewish, Arab and others—are likely to be snuffed out if Hamas is allowed to survive?

Perhaps I’ve spoken out of turn. I’m not a Jew, after all. But that’s how it looks to me.