It’s hard to remember a more massive effort to resolve an impossible mess.
Ever since Hamas terrorists savagely massacred 1200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered Israel’s longest war, ending the devastation and getting the hostages released became the deadlock nobody could crack.
Now, with a determined President Trump knocking heads and using every ounce of his leverage with the countries of the region, it looks like the first phase of deal has been reached and the hostages captured on Oct. 7 will finally come home.
As I look back on the lingering nightmare of Oct. 7, my mind today is also on Oct. 6.
Oct. 6 was before Gaza turned into rubble, before tens of thousands of civilians perished while hundreds of thousands lived in fear and misery, before hundreds of Israeli soldiers gave their lives, before the primal screams to get the hostages out, before the world turned on Israel, before antisemitism mushroomed everywhere.
But here’s the thing about Oct. 6, 2023 that the world must never forget.
There was a ceasefire.
There were no Palestinian casualties.
There were no Israeli hostages.
There were no Gaza neighborhoods turned into rubble.
The ceasefire that Trump and a mini-army of allies have been trying to get for months was already there on Oct. 6.
It’s true that the current plan is aiming higher than a return to Oct. 6, with ideas for long-term solutions for Gaza, an eventual resolution of the Palestinian conflict and an expansion of the Abraham Accords. We can only hope that at least some of these aspirations will come to fruition.
In the meantime, as we await eagerly for the deal to be signed and the hostages to be released, let’s put analyses on hold for a minute and remember that glorious day of October 6, 2023, the day before a nightmare greeted Israel and the Jewish people on the most joyful day of the Jewish calendar—Simchat Torah.
What will greet us next Tuesday on Simchat Torah? As we anticipate images of liberated hostages, may our 2023 tears of grief be replaced by our 2025 tears of joy.
