Israelis find themselves in a strange place these days. Gone are the sirens that set our hearts racing, and the sleepless nights over our children (yes, to us the IDF soldiers are kids) fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, but we are not home free yet. The release of the live hostages was a moment of real joy. But the return of coffins filled loved ones killed by Hamas cannot be called a happy occasion. Rather, we are relieved that the endless suffering and uncertainty of their families is finally over, as well as glad to have the opportunity to honor them and their sacrifice.

Our present state of mind was best summed up by Yair Agmon in his weekly column in Makor Rishon. Agmon, who together with Oriya Mevorach, wrote the must-read book One Day in October (Koren Publishers), put it this way: “What strange days we are going through…happy days but a happiness that does not enter the heart. It sticks in the throat. Three Israeli hostages (since he wrote the column one more was returned) remain in Gaza. Had someone said this would happen in October 2023, or 2024, I wouldn’t have believed it possible. When 251 hostages were kidnapped to Gaza, I know some people had hope they would return. I wasn’t one of them.”

I wasn’t either. That we have achieved so much against this implacable, bestial foe is remarkable. And yet…

“These are days filled with compassion. With good news. With happy tidings. Hadar Goldin is back after eleven years in captivity, and the heart allows itself to be comforted for the moment. But only for the moment. Why is there this angst? For two years we’ve been dreaming and praying for this moment, when the war will end, and the hostages will return, and we can go back to living our good, happy, simple lives. And here it has all happened, and from day to day our prayers are being answered and yet there is this thick angst hanging over us like a fog… I don’t understand it. I don’t understand anything about anything…”

If I might venture a guess it’s that for every prayer answered, another danger takes the place of the one that’s disappeared. The “two-state solution” is still hanging over our heads like an atom bomb. Let me say this clearly: Palestinians are a made-up propaganda stunt to steal our history, our homeland, and our rights. “Recognizing” their “rights” is to deny our own. It is capitulation.

I was very surprised to hear one of the most spirited defenses of Israel coming from a highly unlikely source: Van Jones on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DQ2RYseAQsy/

“Humanity has a special responsibility to defend Israel.” His rant, which talks about the billions of Chinese, Indians, Muslims, and Catholics in the world as opposed to the 15 million Jews, who are the last remnant of an ancient people. Half of whom live in Israel, a country the size of a county in Arizona, which deserves to be cherished and protected. He is Black, a former Obama advisor. God bless him for telling the truth.

So, where exactly are we today? As MK Strook asked Netanyahu in the Knesset how long this ceasefire was going to last? “I don’t know,” he replied.

 “You don’t know?!”

“At the moment we are trying to complete the first stage, the return of the 3 remaining hostages.”

“We didn’t go to war to return hostages.”

There is a certain confusion about stage 2. An international force to remove the arms from Hamas? Huh? Really? Whose idea was that?

But whatever was “agreed upon,” the Chief of Staff Zamir said on his recent visit to Gaza: “We control more that 50% of the territory of the Strip without controlling the population. If required, we must be prepared to quickly transition to a broad offensive to capture areas in Gaza beyond the other side of the yellow line.”

 Many of us agree with Yariv Hag’i, a southern Israeli farmer and survivor of October 7: “The only way the enemy won’t be there is if we are.”

According to Israel Today “Jewish civilian presence in Gaza isn’t ideological. It’s strategic. This is what many in Southern Israel believe now, even if the media won’t say it.”

I agree. The people formerly known as Gazans, who also claim to be Palestinians, are such a depraved, useless, violent bunch, that nobody wants them. Even South Africa, their “champion,” refused to let in 90 Gazans, relenting only after a universal outcry, and with the stipulation that it is temporary (although the rape and murder capital of the world seems a naturally perfect spot for Gazans).

Mia Schem, who was held hostage in Gaza, and has firsthand knowledge, said it clearly: “Everyone in Gaza is a terrorist.” That is their culture, which spreads hate, ugliness, destruction, and violence wherever they go. Give them their own state? Next door to us?

Dream on.

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