Getting Hostages Back is the Best Way to Crush Hamas

There is no doubt in my mind that the murderers of Hamas are most responsible for the war in Gaza, for the tragic deaths of countless Palestinians and for the hostages who continue to languish in misery in the tunnels of Hamas hell.

Who should receive maximum pressure to release the hostages? Who should bear the brunt of international condemnations for the nightmare of Oct. 7 and its repercussions?

It’s not a close call– the evil murderers of Hamas.

The problem with blaming murderers, however, is that they don’t give a damn. They’re murderers. They do what murderers do. They have neither morals nor conscience. The terrorists of Hamas, the same terrorists who cruelly massacred and mutilated 1200 souls on Oct. 7, would murder every Jew on the planet if they could.

But if they’re so evil, why are hundreds of thousands of Israelis marching against their own government rather than against Hamas to demand the release of the remaining hostages?

Because Israelis didn’t vote for Hamas. Hamas owes them nothing. The only people who owe Israelis anything are their democratically elected leaders.

And what do these Israeli leaders owe their people?

Well, given that we’re about to enter the High Holiday season of repentance, let’s start with the most obvious thing: A monumental apology for abandoning them on Oct. 7.

It’s still hard to fathom how a country obsessed with the security of its people—and a leader who called himself Mr. Security—can allow pick-up trucks loaded with terrorists to breach its border, enter living rooms and children’s bedrooms, murder kids in front of their parents and parents in front of their kids, rampage through a music festival, burn families alive, rape women, take 250 hostages—all before the army showed up.

Despite some incredible feats of courage by many Israelis on that fateful day, here’s the unavoidable truth: Netanyahu’s government– from his defense and intelligence team to his cabinet to his far-right partners to his own party— utterly failed the Israeli people on Oct. 7. Thrown off balance, Netanyahu immediately told a traumatized nation that the only way to prevent another Oct. 7 would be to crush Hamas.

It sounded good and made him look tough, but was it true?

Hamas must be crushed regardless, but let’s be honest: Hamas succeeded on Oct. 7 primarily because Israel fell asleep at the wheel and failed to defend its border.

Bulldozers breaching a fence with armed terrorists in motorcycles and pick-up trucks, aided by drones and missiles, was not some radical and sophisticated military innovation that was too complicated or difficult to stop. It was as primal as it gets. Israel could have neutralized the assault before anyone got killed by doing precisely what it had the capability to do: defend its border.

A major war was needed not to help Israel defend its borders but to severely punish Hamas in order to regain the deterrence Israel squandered on that day.

“On October 7, the weakest of our enemies delivered the most devastating blow in our history,” Yossi Klein Halevi wrote in The Times of Israel, “sending a message of unprecedented vulnerability to our enemies.”

Addressing this vulnerability is what the war is about. After being humiliated on Oct. 7, Israel urgently needed to put the “fear of Israel” back into its enemies. How best to do that?

Some have argued that the best way to respond to Oct. 7 is for Israel to control Gaza indefinitely until some elusive “total” victory is reached– in other words, until Hamas is crushed. But if crushing is the goal, punishment is the ideal means: You crush an enemy by constantly punishing it, on your own time, on your own terms.

Making a deal to free the hostages is a crucial part of crushing Hamas because it will strip the terror group of its leverage. Of course that’s why Hamas is not rushing to make a deal. But to ensure maximum pressure on Hamas from the U.S. and the world, Netanyahu must stop equivocating and make it absolutely clear who is saying no. So far, Israel has failed to do that.

Ceasefire critics claim that international pressure would stop Israel from pursuing Hamas in the event a deal is signed. Seriously? After all the international pressure Israel has already withstood during its ferocious war, does Israel look like a country that would go limp if Hamas deserves more punishment?

Indeed, after the hostages are safely back in Israeli hands, it ought to be open season on Hamas. Every ceasefire deal that has been discussed has included conditions for Israel to resume its military activity against the terror group, whether regarding the border with Egypt or anywhere else.

And given the atrocity of Oct. 7 and the murder and starving and raping of hostages, does anyone truly believe Israel will tread softly with these murderers rather than look for opportunities to continue punishing them?

Crushing Hamas is not a one-time project—it’s an ongoing campaign and a statement to Israel’s enemies that there’s an enormous and never-ending price to pay when you mess with Israel. Whether from inside or outside Gaza, Israel must punish Hamas until it is crushed. After failing his people so monumentally on Oct. 7, it’s the least Mr. Security owes his country, just as he owes them to bring the hostages back.

Making a deal to free the hostages has nothing to do with weakness. It’s the opposite. Israel will regain its power, its leverage and its credibility with its people only after the remaining hostages are brought home.

The way to disarm Hamas and eventually crush it is to take away all of its weapons—and that includes its #1 weapon: the hostages.