Since Israel’s establishment, Jewish and non-Jewish allies around the world have supported Israel’s government through all its iterations. Having grown up in a Zionist family in the U.S., I learned loyalty to Israel in the American-Jewish Diaspora required sweeping and vocal backing for whatever Israel’s government needed.
Today, for the first time, I believe that this tradition must change. People, organizations, and countries who see themselves as friends of Israel must confront the Israeli government and pressure it to come to an agreement to free the 134 Israeli hostages held by Hamas and its allies.
For the love of Israel, our friends must consider what might have seemed unthinkable before Oct. 7: using your leverage to force Israel’s leaders to reach an agreement with Hamas. Taking off the gloves for the sake of our hostages could take many forms, including temporary suspension of specific projects and fundraising with Israel, explicit pressure in the international press, downscaling of official visits and other clear messages to the Israeli government that it must do all in its power to return all the hostages.
I know this kind of public confrontation will feel difficult and painful, but for the love of Israel and the hostages, we must.
My investment in this change is personal. My 35-year-old son, Sagui, is still imprisoned in Gaza. Of those hostages, 28 are from my home, Kibbutz Nir Oz. These men, women and children are members of my extended family. Hamas murdered 40 people in our community on Oct. 7, took 80 more as hostages, looted our property and destroyed our homes and communal buildings. Sagui’s young family miraculously survived the Nir Oz massacre, and his wife gave birth in mid-December to the youngest of their three daughters.
From the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ministers have equivocated about prioritizing the return of our hostages — suggesting that military pressure is the key to freeing the hostages. They point to two cases in which the IDF successfully rescued a total of three hostages to make this case.
These operations are the exceptions that prove the rule: military action alone cannot return the majority of hostages alive. The three rescued hostages were held above ground and had not been moved since Oct. 7.
The 130-plus remaining hostages have been held in Hamas’ tunnel network for months, are moved frequently and many, perhaps all, are used as human shields for Hamas leaders. If somehow cornered by IDF troops, these terrorists will murder the hostages before themselves seeking “martyrdom” in battle.
Israel’s leaders must negotiate with Hamas to save the lives of our hostages. Any other course of action is a death sentence for them.
Instead of channeling its energy into preventing this fate, our government has pit Israeli society against one another by suggesting that hostage families and their supporters are harming the war effort.
This smear campaign is absurd. My patriotism and that of people in other border communities cannot be impugned. Since 2008, Hamas has fired rockets and mortar rounds into Nir Oz, dug terror tunnels across the border, flown incendiary kites meant to burn our farm fields and explosive balloons intended to maim our children.
Through all these threats, we raised children and grandchildren, proudly serving as Israel’s “bread basket” despite the immense risks to our safety. There is no justification for any government official questioning my commitment to Israel’s security and productivity. No one in Israel understands the necessity of eradicating Hamas more than these very same kibbutzim destroyed on Oct. 7.
Hamas’ attack should never have happened and would not have been so deadly if Israel’s government and army had done their jobs. The government must honor its sacred obligation to protect its citizens and must not sacrifice the hostages to redeem their shame from Oct. 7. If the hostages do not return home alive, together with the remains of those bodies Hamas holds, Israeli society will never heal and peace may never come to the region.
Sadly, domestic political worries deter our prime minister and his coalition partners from agreeing to any hostage agreement. This painful understanding brings me to ask this from all Jewish and non-Jewish friends of Israel: speak directly to the government of Israel; say that Israel’s legitimacy depends on its commitment to saving Jewish lives; tell them that you cannot support a government that prioritizes its own political survival.
I realize that answering my call might contradict what our parents told us about supporting Israel. But for the sake of Israel, I implore you to now prioritize the people of Israel over a government that evidently does not.
Dekel-Chen is the father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen.
