A Nation Holds Its Breath
There will be many tears in Israel in the coming days. Some will be tears of joy. Others will be tears of anguish. All will be characteristically Israeli.
The word came at 1:51 a.m. Israel time via a post by President Trump on his bespoke social media platform, Truth Social.
Like countless others across the globe, I had been refreshing the page for the better part of an hour when suddenly it appeared.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” the president wrote. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
“BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” he concluded, quoting scripture.
It was the culmination of several days of intensive talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, spurred by the president’s dramatic September 29 announcement of a twenty-point plan to end the war, secure the hostages’ release, and rebuild a Gaza free of Hamas control.
To Israelis and Jews around the world, it was also the culmination of two years of protest, advocacy, prayer, and exhortation on behalf of the hostages and their families — two years during which we have worn yellow ribbons on our lapels and pieces of tape on our shirts, posted the hostages’ stories and photographs on our social media platforms, and remembered them and their plight at every holiday and every celebration. We have been a nation paralyzed, frozen in that awful day in October two years ago, wracked with anxiety over the fate of the Israelis still held captive in Gaza.
Finally, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, on the third day of the holiday of Sukkot, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel in the form of a 119-word social media post, and the emotions came rushing.
“Matan is coming home,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son is one of the hostages and who has been advocating tirelessly for the hostages’ release. “These are the tears I prayed for.”
“I am finally breathing a little,” Silvia Cunio — whose sons, David (35) and Ariel (27), are being held by Hamas — told the Israel Hayom newspaper. “When it actually happens, I’ll be able to breathe normally. It will be like giving birth all over again.”
Former hostages took to social media to express their joy and relief.
“Baruch Hashem,” wrote 22-year-old Omer Wenkert on Instagram, “Thank God. It finally happened! I can’t believe it.” “Evya and Guy — I’m waiting for you,” he added, referring to hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, with whom he was held captive in Gaza until his release in February.
“There’s an agreement!” shouted 29-year-old Emily Damari joyously as she broadcast herself waking up her friends and telling them about the development on Instagram Live. She was later joined by fellow former hostage Romi Gonen and the two called Tali Berman — whose 28-year-old twins, Gali and Ziv, remain in captivity — and toasted her sons’ impending return.
In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square this morning, hostage families and their supporters embraced and danced, waving American and Israeli flags and popping champagne bottles under uncharacteristically gray skies.
But while we hold our collective breath, waiting for the Israeli government to approve the first stage of the agreement and the 72-hour window in which the hostages are set to be released to commence, we must brace ourselves for the deeply emotional days ahead.
According to the official count, there remain 48 hostages, of whom twenty are said to be alive and 28 have been confirmed dead. That number includes 47 hostages taken on October 7, 2023, as well as Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who was killed in action in 2014 and whose body has been held by Hamas for the past 11 years.
The number of living hostages does not appear to be entirely clear. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, set off a storm of anxious outrage in April when she was recorded muttering “fewer” after her husband said 24 hostages were still alive, causing hostage families to demand clarifications. In May, President Trump said that the number of living hostages was 21 and in August he gave the number as twenty, but added, “the twenty is actually probably not twenty because a couple of them are not around any longer.”
According to the latest Israeli reports, while the official number of living hostages remains twenty, there is “grave concern” for the lives of two of them, suggesting the number may indeed be lower. We will only know for certain once we see them safely on Israeli soil.
But the fate of the murdered hostages remains equally unclear. Israeli officials reportedly believe that Hamas has lost track of some of the hostages’ remains and that the number of bodies that will be returned may be significantly lower than 28. A multinational task force will reportedly be formed to try and locate the missing bodies in Gaza, but it is by no means certain that all the deceased hostages will eventually be brought home. Some may be lost forever.
So while some of the Israeli families who have been clinging to hope for the past two years will indeed get to embrace their loved ones, seeing their greatest dream realized and joyously closing this terrible chapter, many others will not. The fortunate ones will receive a body, to be brought to dignified and proper burial in the land of their birth. Others may never have that closure.
There will be many tears in Israel over the coming days. Some will be tears of joy and relief. Others will be tears of anguish and devastation. We who have accompanied the families from afar over the past two torturous years, who have lived and breathed their hopes and their fears, will have to find it within us to embrace them and help them heal for years to come.
This coming Shabbat, Jews around the world will read the Book of Ecclesiastes, with its timeless reminder that, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
In Israel, though, those seasons have a tendency to overlap, blending into one another. Indeed, the story of this country has always been one of bittersweetness, of joy intermingled with pain — from the state’s very birth in the aftermath of the Holocaust, to the annual juxtaposition of Memorial Day and Independence Day, to heart-wrenching moments like those which we are about to witness.
The legendary Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer captured that distinctly Israeli experience in her beautiful song, Al Kol Eleh (“Over All of These”), which has been playing in my head in a loop over the past few days.
Its chorus may offer us a guide for how we might make it through the days and weeks ahead.
Over all these things, over all these things
Please guard for me, my good God
Over the honey and the bee sting
Over the bitter and the sweet.
Please don’t uproot what’s been planted
Don’t forget the hope
Lead me home and I will return
To the good land.
Naomi Shemer sings “Al Kol Eleh,” 1981
Well said, Avi.
Praying that we can all exhale with a peaceful heart and hope for the future.
You’re one of the few unbiased journalists I trust 🎗️🇮🇱🪬