The worst is this: retired security “experts” demanding to be heard over the other panel members on the endless Israeli talk shows on TV, berating and insulting anyone who suggests that if we are going to agree to a prisoner for hostage exchange, at least let it be a one-and-done deal, so that we get all of our hostages back at once.
Israel should let it be known that if every hostage isn't released, including those that have died, and if they find that any have recently died(meaning they were just killed) Israel will hunt down and kill every head of hamas that is left (meaning Mashaal) and their enablers (from Iran to Qatar). This should be said in no uncertain terms. Lets see if these cowards are so willing to be a martyr. That should be their offer. The idea that they are still negotiating is absolutely beyond stupid.
I hear you. But it seems to be a done deal. Also, and I hate admitting this, we've had over a year to force the enemy's hand, and we have not succeeded. To get all of the hostages back, we need Divine intervention.
I am not sure why Israel is such a weak negotiator. She has the upper hand. Unless she knows all the other hostages at this point are dead and sheis demanding those she knows are alive.
You see? We just start talking about it and our heads want to explode. We are up against evil genius. I am convinced that we will kill them all in the end, but for now, we have to make a choice. We had over a year to smoke the rats out but we did not succeed. It's a solid win for the bad guys and we have to know to admit that. We will exact our revenge down the line.
They are destroyed in many ways. They will never be able to reconstitute as they once were. It’s the same with any criminal gang. They take people because that is the best way to extract money or whatever they want. Same here. Israel needs to deal with the remainders of Hamas like you would any criminal cartel at this point, including those at the top like Qatar and Iran.
There is no reason Israel needs to admit anything. They won. The Axis of Resistance is over and next she will target Iran’s nuclear program. the Mullahs days are numbered.
I have no doubt that these evil people will continue to be removed from this Earth by Israel.
Now to make sure the new rulers of Syria remember they too can be destroyed.
Excellent piece. I'm writing a similar piece, noting that it's yet another manifestation of the Trolley Problem. Present, known hostages on one trolley track. Future, unknown hostages on the other track. Exchange 30 current hostages for some number of currently imprisoned future hostage-takers.
Looking forward to it. Are we not good at defining our problems? Actually, you can bring it up to date: it’s not a trolley, but a truck driven by a mad jihadist towards a Christmas fair in Germany. The decision to be made at the border: If the Germans grant him asylum, he will mow down a few dozen Christians somewhere down the line. If they refuse to grant asylum, they will pass him off to, say, Belgium, and he can do his jihadi thing there.
That's a fine and even more complex use of the Trolley Problem. I doubt that I'll get that elaborate. In truth, the Trolley Problem can have an infinite number of tracks, so one has to truncate them somewhere.
Actually, I don't think under the Biden administration we had any choice at all. While we fortunately decided to ignore Biden in warfare we were less successful in peacefare. Now that Trump is soon to arrive it's time Israel demanded all hostages live or not. Clearly, we should not be giving them anybody in return but if we must it should be 1:1 and our choice of whom we release.
Please note, I am not suggesting what needs or does need to be done, I am just commenting on the inhuman suffering. My heart is with these people and their family members. I have no expertise to suggest any course of actions.
The only thing that you can be sure of is that they have the hostages and they lie as much as they can. Remember that lying is part of their religious practice.
lying is also the religious practice of the sponsors of the olso process, iranian pasadaran/foreign policy, and for that matter, of the atheist anti-israel ideology which is its own kind of dogma.
‘a messiah with a large mustache, and a messiah with a small mustache. \n …. and a messiah with a long beard and full mustache’ — defiance, edward zwick. \n ____ interesting how every failed messiah has a decent backstory, honest motivations, and somehow went really far off-course. ‘do you know de wei’ — a cybernetic tourist at the road from entebbe to the airstrip. ‘turn off this radar dish’ — valid orders during the electronic phase of the operation, conveyed through acoustic/ultra/infra, olfactory, electromagnetic/infra/ultra, electric, or magnetic signals. remembering 1676 and the hundred-years peace subsequent, before the beginning of the inverse merger, and wilson’s 14 invasions of europe. ‘¿who is the doctor of the last king of scotland’. mi yodeah?
Israel still has assets to get all the hostages back. One is the Al-Aksa mosque which should be demolished if all of them are not returned. Another is to stop all food and aid going into Gaza. A third is to unleash the armed forces in a blitzkrieg on Gaza that will turn it into rubble. But of course that requires a little bit of common sense or "séchel." Long overdue.
So it's not really a Sophie's choice, but a consequence of the outlook of this generation of leaders. May the next one bring change. May the Israeli public wake up and the young elites who go into politics change the way of their elders.
Let's put it this way: It's a Sophia's Choice and we allowed ourselves to be suckered into it. A choice will be made. Who goes free and who remains behind. It is tearing at our hearts.
Iran said something very telling over the weekend. They said, “Israel didn’t win anything. They haven’t gotten their soldiers back.” Hamas is keeping the hostages as a way to show that Israel has not beaten them. Hamas will never surrender as long as they have the hostages, so they have no incentive to release the hostages.
Israel’s only choice is to expand and take more and more land. The moment that “Palestine” and Lebanon and Syria territory starts shrinking, everything changes. It is not about land for Israel. But it sure as hell is about land and antisemitism for the Islamic caliphate!
Hamas are pathetic losers like school shooters in America. They have a manifesto, their Charter, and they are weak, militarily incompetent and and financially insolvent.
No strong nation with an army that isn’t cowardly holds onto hostages.
It’s a Hail Mary for a bunch of losers.
Where is their god now?
Gaza is destroyed. Their leaders are dead.
They hold hostages like some unstable American bank robber.
They are a pathetic excuse for a nation.
According to their own figures, their women and children are dead, but their warriors are still alive.
Israel should let it be known that if every hostage isn't released, including those that have died, and if they find that any have recently died(meaning they were just killed) Israel will hunt down and kill every head of hamas that is left (meaning Mashaal) and their enablers (from Iran to Qatar). This should be said in no uncertain terms. Lets see if these cowards are so willing to be a martyr. That should be their offer. The idea that they are still negotiating is absolutely beyond stupid.
I hear you. But it seems to be a done deal. Also, and I hate admitting this, we've had over a year to force the enemy's hand, and we have not succeeded. To get all of the hostages back, we need Divine intervention.
I am not sure why Israel is such a weak negotiator. She has the upper hand. Unless she knows all the other hostages at this point are dead and sheis demanding those she knows are alive.
You see? We just start talking about it and our heads want to explode. We are up against evil genius. I am convinced that we will kill them all in the end, but for now, we have to make a choice. We had over a year to smoke the rats out but we did not succeed. It's a solid win for the bad guys and we have to know to admit that. We will exact our revenge down the line.
They are destroyed in many ways. They will never be able to reconstitute as they once were. It’s the same with any criminal gang. They take people because that is the best way to extract money or whatever they want. Same here. Israel needs to deal with the remainders of Hamas like you would any criminal cartel at this point, including those at the top like Qatar and Iran.
There is no reason Israel needs to admit anything. They won. The Axis of Resistance is over and next she will target Iran’s nuclear program. the Mullahs days are numbered.
I have no doubt that these evil people will continue to be removed from this Earth by Israel.
Now to make sure the new rulers of Syria remember they too can be destroyed.
Yes. There is a time to kill. This is it.
Amen!
Excellent piece. I'm writing a similar piece, noting that it's yet another manifestation of the Trolley Problem. Present, known hostages on one trolley track. Future, unknown hostages on the other track. Exchange 30 current hostages for some number of currently imprisoned future hostage-takers.
Looking forward to it. Are we not good at defining our problems? Actually, you can bring it up to date: it’s not a trolley, but a truck driven by a mad jihadist towards a Christmas fair in Germany. The decision to be made at the border: If the Germans grant him asylum, he will mow down a few dozen Christians somewhere down the line. If they refuse to grant asylum, they will pass him off to, say, Belgium, and he can do his jihadi thing there.
That's a fine and even more complex use of the Trolley Problem. I doubt that I'll get that elaborate. In truth, the Trolley Problem can have an infinite number of tracks, so one has to truncate them somewhere.
Robert, I just cannot stop thinking about those we will leave behind. It's unbearable.
Actually, I don't think under the Biden administration we had any choice at all. While we fortunately decided to ignore Biden in warfare we were less successful in peacefare. Now that Trump is soon to arrive it's time Israel demanded all hostages live or not. Clearly, we should not be giving them anybody in return but if we must it should be 1:1 and our choice of whom we release.
This ruthless game with the life of hostages is endlessly painful
Please note, I am not suggesting what needs or does need to be done, I am just commenting on the inhuman suffering. My heart is with these people and their family members. I have no expertise to suggest any course of actions.
The only thing that you can be sure of is that they have the hostages and they lie as much as they can. Remember that lying is part of their religious practice.
lying is also the religious practice of the sponsors of the olso process, iranian pasadaran/foreign policy, and for that matter, of the atheist anti-israel ideology which is its own kind of dogma.
Yes, Oslo is a religion. With a Messiah. His name is Ehud Barak.
‘a messiah with a large mustache, and a messiah with a small mustache. \n …. and a messiah with a long beard and full mustache’ — defiance, edward zwick. \n ____ interesting how every failed messiah has a decent backstory, honest motivations, and somehow went really far off-course. ‘do you know de wei’ — a cybernetic tourist at the road from entebbe to the airstrip. ‘turn off this radar dish’ — valid orders during the electronic phase of the operation, conveyed through acoustic/ultra/infra, olfactory, electromagnetic/infra/ultra, electric, or magnetic signals. remembering 1676 and the hundred-years peace subsequent, before the beginning of the inverse merger, and wilson’s 14 invasions of europe. ‘¿who is the doctor of the last king of scotland’. mi yodeah?
Israel still has assets to get all the hostages back. One is the Al-Aksa mosque which should be demolished if all of them are not returned. Another is to stop all food and aid going into Gaza. A third is to unleash the armed forces in a blitzkrieg on Gaza that will turn it into rubble. But of course that requires a little bit of common sense or "séchel." Long overdue.
Not going to happen with this generation of leaders, I don't think. I hope and pray that I will be surprised.
So it's not really a Sophie's choice, but a consequence of the outlook of this generation of leaders. May the next one bring change. May the Israeli public wake up and the young elites who go into politics change the way of their elders.
Let's put it this way: It's a Sophia's Choice and we allowed ourselves to be suckered into it. A choice will be made. Who goes free and who remains behind. It is tearing at our hearts.
Iran said something very telling over the weekend. They said, “Israel didn’t win anything. They haven’t gotten their soldiers back.” Hamas is keeping the hostages as a way to show that Israel has not beaten them. Hamas will never surrender as long as they have the hostages, so they have no incentive to release the hostages.
Israel’s only choice is to expand and take more and more land. The moment that “Palestine” and Lebanon and Syria territory starts shrinking, everything changes. It is not about land for Israel. But it sure as hell is about land and antisemitism for the Islamic caliphate!
I hadn’t heard that.
I will share the article in a post right now.
Hamas are pathetic losers like school shooters in America. They have a manifesto, their Charter, and they are weak, militarily incompetent and and financially insolvent.
No strong nation with an army that isn’t cowardly holds onto hostages.
It’s a Hail Mary for a bunch of losers.
Where is their god now?
Gaza is destroyed. Their leaders are dead.
They hold hostages like some unstable American bank robber.
They are a pathetic excuse for a nation.
According to their own figures, their women and children are dead, but their warriors are still alive.
Hiding behind hostages.
They are too cowardly to even surrender.
Have they no shame?
It's the same choice the heads of Jewish communities had in Europe.