WhatsappThe price for the release of a terrorist serving multiple life sentences needs to be the return of all Israeli hostages, alive and dead, at one time.
(July 23, 2025 / JNS)
In its never-ending revisions to the conditions for any kind of hostage release, Hamas has now added the release of Israeli prisoner Marwan Barghouti, a convicted Palestinian terrorist who is serving multiple life sentences. He is a veritable pillar of Hamas lore and terror.
There is, of course, little interest among Israelis in doing this. Barghouti’s release would be celebrated as a great Hamas victory. Nevertheless, it might be the best, and only, way to break free of the incrementalism that has marked Israel’s negotiations from day one, and completely plays into Hamas’s hands. Why not agree to the release of Barghouti as long as all of our remaining hostages are released?
Let us consider that Hamas really, really wants the 66-year-old back and is willing to offer its version of the wildly distorted trade that returned Gilad Shalit, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces kidnapped in 2006, to Israel in 2011.
If Barghouti is so important to Hamas, then fine; reluctantly, I say give him to Hamas, get our hostages back and finish the negotiations. Hamas won’t agree to that? Well, I say, we have done a pretty poor job to date of figuring out what Hamas wants and will agree to, so why not go for it?
It is high time that we start digging our heels in. Barghouti or no, we should announce that the next hostage release is the last one. No more cutting the numbers in half, a process that could go on for years.
If Hamas wants relief and our withdrawal, then they have to let our people go. That is the mantra we need to be adopting. All of our people, all at once.
U.S. President Donald Trump has to recognize that many of his rosy predictions go unfulfilled and only make him and his team look naive, like Western tourists in a Mideast shuk. All the rosiness does is to strengthen Hamas’s hand, and increase its resistance and resolve.
But Barghouti is someone they want. And the idea of letting him go is no less palatable than releasing hundreds of Palestinian murderers.
We have succeeded in neutering our negotiating positions by making the hostage issue the be-all and end-all of the war and its denouement. Of course, we all want our hostages back. But when we telegraph our willingness to do anything to get even a handful of them back, rest assured, Hamas will be happy to take us up on our “hat in handedness.”
Hamas is playing for time: time to rebuild, time to exact revenge on independent clans, and time to reassert its control and dominance in Gaza. Dribbling out the hostages not only gives Hamas time, it keeps us on the back of our heels, reluctant to take the steps that could truly finish the war by dismantling the terror group.
So, let’s assume that the Barghouti trade is rejected. Our rejoinder needs to be: “Fine, but the next release is the last one, regardless. We will not accept 10. We want all the living hostages, and we want all the bodies of our dead.”
This is not a popular position among the Kaplanistas, who are out every night in Tel Aviv protesting for the hostages, and the anti-Bibi “Bring Them Home Now” crowd willing to disparage the sacrifice of our soldiers by paying any price for any hostage release. We have come too far to allow that. Incidentally, a premature withdrawal, especially in southern Gaza, will endanger the independent anti-Hamas forces and clans that will be attacked once Israel is gone from the area.
I suspect that many readers who have reached this point are questioning my realism and might very well conclude that the ideas expressed herein are wishful thinking of a wildly Pollyannish order. But it doesn’t work that way. We can’t just wish for what we want and expect it to happen. We also don’t have to pre-emptively cave on our desires on the theory that the other side just won’t go for it.
This is the Middle East—home to outrageous demands and wildly skewed perceptions. We are wiping the Gaza Strip clean militarily. Why can we not follow suit and dig our heels in diplomatically?
The rationale behind continued aggressive military efforts in Gaza is that it will ultimately soften Hamas up for the return of our hostages and the other goals we are seeking.
Why not begin those demands now? One release, one time, all the hostages. Making that our mantra and mindset just might bear fruit.
