🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 508, 2023 - February 25, 2025 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 508 that 63 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

PLEASE READ THE PIECE "Many readers have asked me for a bit of comfort, so here I say: There is hope | Ben Caspit " IN THE POLITICS AND WAR SECTION. It is a hopeful commentary.

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

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Hostage Updates 

List of all remaining hostages in Gaza with a heart for each one who has returned in this latest hostage deal including those who returned to be buried. The heart represents those who returned.

May all of their memories be a revolution

• No extended Phase 1 – Move now immediately to Phase 2!
  My assessment is that Netanyahu’s plan to extend phase 1 in order to release more hostages without obligating to end the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza will be totally rejected by Hamas. I also believe that Egypt and Qatar will not even really try to convince Hamas to agree to what Netanyahu is proposing. Netanyahu believes that his leverage over Hamas is the refusal to withdraw from Philadelphi and not to release Palestinian prisoners as agreed. The Hamas leadership outside of Gaza has little problem bringing about the renewal of the war with the full awareness that their leverage is the lives of the remaining hostages. The Hamas commanders in charge of Gaza today are becoming increasingly independent from the Hamas leaders outside and they will not hesitate taking revenge on the hostages if the fighting resumes. The war is over, even if Netanyahu fails to recognize it. The alternative to Hamas will be the result of political decisions and not more warfare. The development of a united Arab position, that some of the Arab leaders are working on developing is the best way of presenting a plan for Gaza’s future. That plan will put an alternative acceptable Palestinian leadership in charge of Gaza – if they are successful in applying sufficient pressure on Mahmoud Abbas to appoint an acceptable temporary leader for Gaza who will be independent from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah but committed to the process of reunification and elections in Palestine in the not-too-distant future. The important thing is that the decision-making process be independent from Ramallah and that the money for reconstruction does not flow through Ramallah but goes directly to Gaza, even if there is oversight by the contributing countries. The most important thing now is for President Trump and Steve Witkoff to insist on moving ahead with Phase 2 and getting all of the hostages home for the agreed price of ending the war, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the agreed number and names of Palestinian prisoners. The development of the political framework for advancing the two states solution should be undertaken by Trump and his team now with the Arab states including Saudi Arabia, until there is new leadership in Israel and in Palestine. (Gershon Baskin, February 24, 2025)

• ABC Australia radio interview with my brother, Gershon Baskin  about the fragility of the ceasefire/hostage release deal. Radio interview with Gershon Baskin
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Slain hostage Oded Lifshitz to be laid to rest in Kibbutz Nir Oz today

  

  Oded Lifshitz, who was slain in captivity and his body returned to Israel by Hamas last week, will be buried today in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

  Members of the public were asked to accompany the path of his coffin from Rishon Lezion to Nir Oz with Israeli flags.

  Oded was kidnapped along with his wife, Yocheved, who was freed a few weeks later. Israeli authorities determined that he was killed in captivity more than a year ago, at age 83.

  The couple’s grandson, Daniel, tells Army Radio that his grandmother said “we have today, the moment we bury him [to mourn], but tomorrow, we keep fighting to bring everyone back.”  link Oded, like at least 25 other hostages who were kidnapped alive were killed in Hamas captivity, some from our massive bombings, others from Hamas' barbarians who executed them. All of them share one thing in common; they could all have been saved and brought back alive if one man would have put them and the well being of the country before his personal interests. Their blood is directly on Netanyahu's hands.

• Yocheved Lifshitz at husband’s funeral: ‘I’m not giving up’ on struggle to return hostages

  

  Former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (right) at the funeral of her husband, slain hostage Oded Lifshitz, at Kibbutz Nir Oz on February 25, 2025.

  
  

  Former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, the widow of murdered hostage Oded Lifshitz, says how strange it feels to be the one speaking when he was the one who always took the stage and she was the photographer.

  “Our captivity shocked me,” says Lifshitz at her husband’s funeral in Kibbutz Nir Oz. “We fought for peace and we were hit by a terrible attack by those on the other side. I’m shocked to see the number of graves of our community that were completely abandoned on October 7.”

  She says that members of the community are still held chained, being held underground for more than 500 days and the government must get them all released.

  “I’m not giving up,” she says. “I will continue to be part of this struggle until the last one returns home.”

  She says a new piano is waiting in the apartment where she is living, and she was waiting to hear him come home and play it, “one more time in your talented and special way.”

  Oded Lifshitz, one of the Nir Oz hostages who was slain in captivity, is laid to rest in the kibbutz he helped found 70 years ago.

  His eldest son, Arnon Lifshitz, eulogizes him: “Dad, you’re here now, now you’re home.”

  Arnon says his father always knew how to help and do for others, and was deeply connected to the kibbutz, filling every kind of job, from the chicken coop to the administration.

  “The kibbutz was destroyed on October 7, people couldn’t lock their doors, others were outside, fighting against many,” he says. “Now the government must pay any price to return all those who are there. We don’t ask, we demand that.”

  Lifshitz says that other released hostages from Nir Oz, like Gadi Mozes, say that that the rehabilitation of Nir Oz is the best revenge, “so that we can return to being us, a light among the nations.”

  
  

• Brother of hostage Bar Kupershtein: ‘We know he’s alive – but tomorrow everything could change’
  

  

  A poster calling for prayer on behalf of Bar Kupershtein and for his freedom from Hamas captivity. (Courtesy)

  
  

  Dvir Kupershtein, the brother of hostage Bar Kupershtein, tells a Knesset committee that his brother is alive, but might not be in another minute or hour or day.
  “We know that Bar is alive 100%, but tomorrow everything could change, or even in an another hour or minute,” says Dvir of his brother, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
  Bar, who was working as festival security, is not slated for release in the current first stage of the ceasefire deal, with future possible stages hanging in the balance.
  “He’s not just another hostage, he’s my brother and he’s a hero,” Dvir tells the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “He evacuated the wounded under fire to save lives, he went back again and again to save people, and when he’s the one who needed help there was nobody there to save him.”

  
  

• Hamas denies reports that it will hand over bodies of two hostages in exchange for Israel allowing release of Palestinian prisoners

  Hamas denies Saudi news reports that it plans to hand over the bodies of two hostages today in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners whose release was postponed, doubling down on its boycott of talks with Israel through mediators.

  
  

  In a statement on Telegram, Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi demands that Israel implement the ceasefire agreement by “releasing the 600 Palestinian prisoners” who were supposed to be freed on Saturday, and says the terror group has not changed its stance regarding continued negotiations.

  
  

  Israel announced Sunday morning that it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners until Hamas promised to end the “humiliating ceremonies” it stages when hostages are handed over.

  
  

  The Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat alleges that negotiations between Israel and Hamas were progressing and could lead to the handover of two hostages’ bodies in the next few hours, however, the Hamas spokesman stridently denies this claim.

  
  

  In addition, multiple Hebrew media outlets cite unnamed Israeli sources denying the report.

  
  

  According to a Ynet report from earlier today, Israeli negotiators told mediators it would free the prisoners so long as Hamas agreed to hand over four bodies today, without performing a ceremony with the coffins as it did with the bodies of the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz.
  
  

  
  
• Senior Hamas official says he wouldn’t have backed Oct. 7 attacks if he knew the consequences for Gaza

  
  

  Senior Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouk says he would not have backed the October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel if he had known what the consequences would be for the Gaza Strip after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

  
  

  “If it was expected that what happened would happen, there wouldn’t have been October 7,” he says in an interview with The New York Times.

  
  

  The Qatar-based official says Hamas’s survival was a “kind of victory” but ultimately, Hamas cannot claim to have defeated Israel.

  
  

  “We’re talking about a party that lost control of itself and took revenge against everything,” says Abu Marzouk of Israel. “That is not a victory under any circumstances.”

  
  

  He also tells the Times that Hamas is ready to consider proposals for disarmament: “We are ready to speak about every issue. Any issue that is put on the table, we need to speak about it.”

  
  
• Minister Strock: Victory in the War - More Important than the Return of the Abductees

  
  

  During a conversation held at the "Jerusalem Conference" of the B'Sheva group, the Minister of Settlement and National Missions clarified her firm opinion on the difficult dilemma. When asked again, she agreed that Israel would have to give up on living hostages in order to achieve victory over Gaza. This is not the first criticism Strock has leveled against a deal with Hamas, having previously said: "A government that throws everything away to return 22 or 33 abductees has no right to exist."

  
  

  The Minister of Settlement and National Missions, Orit Strock, was a guest today (Monday) at the "Jerusalem Conference" of the B'Sheva group, held at the Vert Hotel in the capital. During the conversation with her, Minister Strock stated that "victory in the war is more important" than the return of the last hostage.

  
  

  Strock was asked again if she agrees: "In the dilemma between ending the war and returning all the abductees, you say with a heavy heart - 'I, Minister Orit Strock, will have to give up on some hostages to achieve the strategic victory over Gaza.'" The minister replied again: "I am saying this - and I am saying that this was the Israeli consensus ten years ago."

  
  

  This is not the first time that Minister Strock has expressed her opinion on the issue that is tearing the country apart. Just at the beginning of the month, she held a difficult conversation with the families of abductees held captive, and even in front of them, she criticized the latest hostage deal: "This clear decision by Hamas, that what they want is to abduct, and to abduct en masse - happened because we, the State of Israel, taught them that it is very profitable. And we are now teaching them that again."

  
  

  Last May, before the operation in Rafah and amid reports of a deal with Hamas, she said that "a government that sends hundreds of thousands of people into battle and throws away the goals it has set in order to release 22 or 33 hostages, while most of the hostages remain in Gaza with no chance of release other than by stopping the war - has no right to exist." Strock said these things to Avi Tregerman on the program "Good Morning Israel" on Galei Tzahal.

  
  

  The latest criticism of the deal, as mentioned, was expressed by Strock today at the "Jerusalem Conference" of the B'Sheva group, an annual conference dealing with issues of economics, society, and state - and this year stands under the sign of mutual responsibility. At the conference, which is being held today and tomorrow, the President of the State, the Prime Minister, ministers, members of the Knesset, rabbis, media personalities, and more are expected to participate - according to the official website.  link This disgusting minister has it totally backwards. A member of a government, the same government that is fully responsible for October 7, who says that she and the government are willing to sacrifice our hostages has no right to ever be a public servant, not even school janitor. For her and the rest of her messianic party, occupying and annexing occupied territory, transferring Palestinians and building Jewish settlements have been far more important than saving the hostages that they allowed to be taken in pajamas from their beds, their homes while watching their families and friends be slaughtered, raped, burned alive. These are people who don't take any responsibility and don't have a single cell of empathy or sympathy because they are not from their families or their messianic movements. Vile, disgusting, they have no place in public office or part of a caring society.

  
  
• Ex-hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen asked Netanyahu to put politics aside, accompany him on visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz – report
  

  

  
  Freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen with his wife Avital aboard an IDF helicopter en route to the hospital soon after his release from 498 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 15, 2025. The whiteboard message refers to the then-73 hostages still held in Gaza, and urges 'return all of them to us.' (IDF)

  Recently freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz when the two spoke on the phone yesterday, Channel 12 reports.

  The Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday that Netanyahu had spoken to Dekel-Chen and Ohad Ben Ami, and told them that Israel had needed to apply great pressure on Hamas to secure their release.

  Dekel-Chen was freed from captivity on February 15, and Ben Ami was released a week earlier.

  In what Channel 12 says is a transcript of their conversation, Dekel-Chen told the premier during their conversation that he cannot “eat, drink, shower, or play with my daughters while there are hostages that I left behind, some of them my friends, dead and alive.”

  “I will not leave anyone there,” Dekel-Chen added.

  Netanyahu, in response, told him that he “will not leave anyone behind,” and stressed that “we are working extremely hard to return everyone.”

  Dekel-Chen, who had no exposure to the outside world for the duration of his captivity, and did not find out about the vast protest movement in Israel until his return, told the prime minister that the footage from the protests “of my father crying on the stage, of my wife and daughters standing at protests and crying” have been hard for him to take in.

  “I understand that you haven’t visited Nir Oz,” Dekel-Chen said to Netanyahu. “I’m inviting you, with a personal invitation. We will put politics aside and I will take you, without any politics, just you and I on the paths of Nir Oz.”

  “Right now, everything is blossoming, but I will show you blood-soaked places and burnt homes,” he said, according to Channel 12.

  The prime minister has not visited Nir Oz over the past 16 months, despite appeals for him to do so from its residents, after 117 members of the tight-knit community were either murdered or abducted on October 7, 2023.

  “We come from different viewpoints, but I have always believed, even in captivity, that the considerations in Israel are made professionally, and I ask that they are,” said Dekel-Chen.

  He told Netanyahu that “the real victory will be returning love to the streets, and that will only happen with the return of the hostages.”  link Netanyahu hasn't been to Nir Oz or to any other of the communities that were attacked and where the barbarian Hamas terrorists killed, raped, tortured and burned alive 1200 people on that dark day. A real leader would have been there immediately when it was safe to see what was done with his own eyes, speak to survivors, express empathy and sympathy and ask for forgiveness. He did none of these things for very simple reasons. He does not have empathy or sympathy, he won't apologize because he doesn't take any responsibility and the worst reason is that it won't look good for him to be there and have survivors talking to him about his abandonment of them for all of his years as Prime Minister and for his continued abandonment from October 7 until today. It would make bad press and I'm sure, his PR team has told him that it will only make him look bad. A real leader wouldn't care, he would face it, bow his head and listen without saying a word. He will never do anything like that. DISGRACEFUL!!!

  
  
• **Hirsch to Families of Abductees: "Efforts Continue to Secure the Release of Living Hostages and the Deceased"**
  Families of hostages met with the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, and heard for the first time from a senior official that Israel is attempting to continue the deal. Hirsch was asked about selection among the abductees and responded: "The goal is to release everyone; there is no selection among the abductees." Regarding changes in the negotiation team, he said: "Dermer will head the team, but I am also part of it." Quotes from the meeting.
  
  Families of hostages met with the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, and heard for the first time from a senior official that Israel is attempting to continue the deal for the release of the abductees, as we reported this evening (Monday) in the "Main Edition." During the meeting, Hirsch told the families of the abductees who participated: "The goal is to release everyone; there is no selection among the hostages."
  Recently, families of hostages have been holding a blitz of talks with senior officials in Israel and abroad in an attempt to convince them that their loved ones are in a critical humanitarian situation. Among other things, the families met with Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, in order to receive clarifications regarding the continuation of the deal. When Hirsch was asked about Israel's intention to continue the deal, he replied: "We are trying to continue the pulses of returning the living hostages—and the deceased," thereby confirming for the first time that efforts to extend the deal are ongoing.
  
  **Gal Hirsch's Conversation with the Families of the Hostages**
  A relative of one of the hostages, who participated in the meeting, asked about the changes in the negotiation team. The Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons responded: "Contrary to reports, Dermer will head the negotiation team, but I am also part of the team. All organizations and their leaders are involved and harnessed, and I maintain full and continuous cooperation with everyone."
  
  **"I Am Also Part of the Team," Hirsch in Conversation with Families of Hostages**
  The families of the hostages expressed concern that the deal would continue to proceed in pulses: "We are tired of hearing messages without a date and without an official announcement that the deal is being extended," said one of the relatives of the hostages. Some relatives of the hostages are personally trying to convince official parties to include their loved ones in the deal based on their medical condition. "I go to every possible senior official with medical documents to show why my son needs to be released now," said the mother of one of the hostages. link The families have too many good reasons to be concerned. Gal Hirsch was a political appointee by Netanyahu and does his bidding. He is not confrontation to Netanyahu which is what he needs to be. Dermer is Netanyahu's closest advisor and only does what Netanyahu wishes and we all know that Netanyahu has his own agenda, and the hostages are not at the top of that agenda. Dede Barnea, head of the Mossad and Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet, have spent their lives putting the needs of the State before anything else and their leadership in the negotiating team continued to do that. If it was up to them, the hostages would have been home a very long time ago, but they had to go along with the dictates of the single decision maker Netanyahu who put spokes in the wheels of negotiations every time to make sure they failed and he continues to do the same thing, not for the State, not for the hostages or their families but for himself.
  
  

• Freed hostage Karina Ariev helps take down poster of her face at Jerusalem synagogue
  

  

  
  Freed hostage Karina Ariev (right) helps take down a poster calling for her release outside a Jerusalem synagogue, February 24, 2025. (Courtesy)

  Freed hostage Karina Ariev joined the community of Jerusalem’s Kol Haneshama synagogue yesterday to take down a banner featuring her image and the call to bring her home.

  Ariev is one of the five surveillance soldiers taken hostage on October 7 from the Nahal Oz army base, and she was released from Gaza a month ago.

  The synagogue, situated at the capital’s busy Oranim intersection, had hung the banner where it was visible to traffic and pedestrians, and at the many rallies and sit-ins held at the corner. Ariev’s cousin, Anna Astamker, is the executive director of the Reform synagogue.

  When Ariev was released home, synagogue members first adjusted the banner to read, “Karina is home.”

  After Ariev returned from captivity in Gaza and heard about the demonstrations and efforts for her and other hostages at this corner, she asked the community to wait for her to join them in taking down the banner.

  Alongside family members, Ariev yesterday helped take down the banner featuring her face, and hung a new banner reading: “Karina came home, we’ll continue until everyone comes home.”

  
  

Gaza and the South

•  IDF says it is striking source of rocket launch in southern Gaza that fell in Strip

  The IDF says it is striking the source of a rocket launch in the southern Gaza Strip. The rocket had fallen short in Gaza.

• IDF says it foiled attempt to smuggle drugs into Israel from Egypt via drone
  

  The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.

  The drone was identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, and troops of the Bardelas Battalion operating in the area captured it

  The soldiers found that the drone was ferrying two kilograms (nearly 4.5 pounds) of marijuana, according to the IDF.

• Karhi, Smotrich call on public to rally for resettling Gaza, expelling Palestinians. - I will not post this disgusting racist article about the most disgusting and racist politicians in the Knesset - this is a group of messianics who care only about their distorted ideology where stealing land that they claim was given by god and getting rid of the genuine owners of that same land, the Palestinians and then turning it into Jewish only settlements. They don't cherish life or jewish values of which holds life more important than anything else. They don't give a damn about the hostages that were kidnapped on their watch, under their responsibility. They are against every deal and are willing for every living hostage to die under the worst possible conditions. Not a single one of them is worthy of us, the people and should never ever be allowed to hold a public office again.

• Egypt says displacement of Gazans would threaten national security of countries in region
  

  Egypt rejects proposals to displace the Palestinian people in order to not “liquidate” the Palestinian cause and to avoid threatening the national security of countries in the region, according to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency.

  US President Donald Trump has infuriated the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace the population of more than 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, claim US control of it and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

  Egypt has repeatedly expressed opposition to such a plan.
  
  

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• Lebanon’s prime minister says only nation’s armed forces can defend country
  

  Lebanon’s new prime minister reads his government policy statement stating that only the country’s armed forces should defend the nation in case of war.

  Nawaf Salam was picked to form a new government last month after a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah that killed scores and caused widespread destruction.

  The Hezbollah terror group has kept its weapons over the past decades saying it is necessary to defend Lebanon against Israel. But many in Lebanon have been calling on the group to disarm, and such calls intensified during the latest war that stopped when a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27.

  Salam says the government asserts that Lebanon has the right to defend itself in case of “aggression” and only the state has the right to have weapons. He also said that the government takes measures against Israel “through its forces only.”
  



• IDF says it carried out dozens of ‘targeted raids’ in southern Syria in recent weeks
  

  
  IDF troops uncover a cache of weapons in southern Syria, in a handout photo published February 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

  The IDF says it has carried out dozens of “targeted raids” in southern Syria in recent weeks, during which troops captured weapons “which posed a threat to the security of the State of Israel and our forces.”

  In one raid last week, the military says soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade located a cache of rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment left behind by the former Assad regime.

  The IDF has described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area “indefinitely.”

• Israel creating program that would allow Syrian Druze to work in Israeli towns in Golan

  
  Residents in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights celebrate on December 8, 2024, after Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending president Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Jalaa Marey/ AFP)
  
  

  Israel has begun staff work on a pilot program that would allow Syrian Druze to work in Israeli towns on the Golan Heights, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

  The program was initiated by Golan Druze who asked Israeli security officials and the military to assist their Druze brethren over the border, says Kan.

  The plan is being drawn up by Gen. Ghassan Alian, who heads the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and is Druze himself.

  The initial stage will see dozens of Syrian Druze working in construction and agriculture in Golan Druze towns.

  Israeli leaders have publicly warned Syria’s government not to harm the Druze in southwestern Syria, and regularly speak with foreign leaders about the importance of protecting them, along with Syria’s Kurds.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

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Politics and the War (general news)

•  In first, Olmert reveals map of his offer to Abbas for two-state solution
  
  Former prime minister Ehud Olmert holds up the map he presented to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 for a two-state solution in a BBC documentary that aired in February, 2025. (Screencapture/ BBC)

  Former prime minister Ehud Olmert for the first time reveals the map of his 2008 offer to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for a two-state solution that would have given the Palestinians 95.1% of the West Bank and Gaza, with one-for-one land swaps in Israel.

  Details of the offer have long been known, but largely from a hand drawn version of the map that Abbas recreated after the meeting.

  “This is the first time that I expose this map to the media,” Olmert says in the documentary, “Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October,” which airs on the BBC today.

  “In the next 50 years, you will not find one Israeli leader that will propose to you what I propose to you now,” Olmert recalls telling Abbas. “Sign it! Sign it and let’s change history!”

  Olmert presented Abbas with a large formal map in September 2008 showing his territorial compromise proposal for the contours of a Palestinian state as part of a permanent peace accord, and demanded that Abbas initial the proposal before taking it back to Ramallah for consideration by the Palestinians. Abbas refused to do so.

  The map shows that Olmert was willing, more or less, to return to the pre-1967 lines, though maintaining the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Jerusalem, the settlement city of Ma’ale Adumim to the east, and a slice of territory that would encompass the large settlement of Ariel in Samaria. In exchange for expanding Israeli sovereignty to those areas, Israel would have given up some of its own land to the new Palestinian state.

  He also endorsed a tunnel route to link Gaza and the West Bank.

  Olmert was also prepared to divide Jerusalem into Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled neighborhoods, and to relinquish Israeli sovereignty at the Temple Mount and the entire Old City. He has said that he proposed that the “Holy Basin” be overseen instead by a five-member, non-sovereign, international trusteeship, made up of Israel, the PA, Jordan, the US, and Saudi Arabia.

  In the documentary, Abbas’s then-chief of staff, Rafiq Husseini, says the Palestinians did not take the offer seriously because Olmert was embroiled in a corruption scandal and would soon resign.

  “It is unfortunate that Olmert, regardless of how nice he was… was a lame duck,” Husseini says, “and therefore, we will go nowhere with this.”



• Many readers have asked me for a bit of comfort, so here I say: There is hope | Ben Caspit  

Following the column on the "loyalty speech," many asked for something to hold onto. Friends, the hope is us—the Israelis. Since Yariv Levin emerged with his judicial coup, I’ve been meeting people, witnessing their love for the Zionist vision and their determination not to give up.  

**Without a Gram of Shame**  

Former Minister Yizhar Shay, who lost his son Yaron (Nuni), a fighter in the Nahal Brigade, in the heroic battle to defend Kerem Shalom on October 7, posted this on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday: "We are entering a sad, unbearable day. The fallen who return home tomorrow will break all our hearts. So let’s be together tomorrow. For one moment, let’s forget left and right, for and against, the voices of strife and discord among us. Let’s be together tomorrow only for. For the hostages, for their families, for our fallen who return home tomorrow to receive their right to eternal rest, for the fighters, for the wounded in body and soul, for those dear to us whom we lost in this war, for the State of Israel."  

I really wanted to embrace this message. To yearn for that natural moment of quiet, of bowing our heads, of soul-searching, of forgiveness. We deserve one such moment after all we’ve been through. I wanted to be "for," until I encountered the "against" again: On the same day, Prime Minister Netanyahu released a video ahead of the difficult day awaiting us all: "Tomorrow will be a very hard day for the State of Israel. A jarring day, a day of mourning," Netanyahu said, explaining that his heart, like ours, is torn to pieces.  

Who among us hasn’t been heartbroken since October 7 for Shiri Bibas, the mother who became a symbol, and her two red-haired toddlers, Kfir and Ariel? Tender toddlers kidnapped with their mother from the place that should have been the safest in their world. Magical redheads, at the beginning of their lives, whose videos playing in the family’s embrace, on the kibbutz lawn, looking curiously at the world they were just born into, have shaken our hearts since that morning.  

**Not a Complete Victory, But Definitely an Achievement: Netanyahu Stunned Everyone**  

Tomer and Dikla Arava from Nahal Oz were also murdered. As was the Bira family from Be’eri. Parents Yasmin and Oron, daughters Ta’ir and Tahel. Their brother, Yahav, is the only survivor of the massacre. And there’s also—or rather, there’s no longer—the Hatzeroni family from Be’eri: 76-year-old Ayala, her 69-year-old brother Avia, and his twin grandchildren Liel and Yanai, aged 12.  

And how can we ignore Abigail Edan, the curly-haired, heart-stealing child whose father, Roy Edan, held her in his arms as he was shot by the murderers in their home on the kibbutz. Along with him, her mother, Smadar, was also murdered. Abigail managed to escape from her father’s arms just in time and wandered, covered in his blood, through the kibbutz paths until she was picked up by a neighboring family. Later, she was kidnapped. She returned in the first hostage deal and charmed her way into the hearts of the entire world as she sat on President Biden’s lap.  

This list is just a sample of the horrors of October 7. On that day, 53 children were murdered. An enormous number of parents became bereaved, some losing all their children. An enormous number of children became orphans. Brothers and sisters who lost all their siblings. Grandparents who lost their grandchildren. And vice versa.  

Our forefathers who established this state had one main goal in mind: to prevent scenes like these. Never again. Jews would no longer be abandoned. Parents would no longer hide their children in attics, closets, or safe rooms. We would not be defenseless. There would be no need to beg gentiles for help. We would no longer return to the doorsteps of superpowers, pleading for them to rescue us. "The State of Israel," Ariel Sharon used to say at every opportunity, "is the only place where Jews can defend themselves, by themselves."  

On October 7, 2023, we returned to those terrible days. There was no state here, no army, no protection for the residents of the Gaza border communities, from Kfar Aza to Sderot and Ofakim. It happened again. Peaceful, innocent citizens, parents and their children, grandparents and grandchildren, were slaughtered in their homes. And there was no one to protect them. To lend a hand. To prevent the disaster. To rush to their aid. In many communities, the army was slow to arrive, and when it did, it was in a trickle that failed to stop the flood.  

Nir Oz, the kibbutz of the Bibas family, became a symbol of abandonment because no one came there. Not on time, not late. Not at all. The kibbutz residents were murdered, kidnapped, and burned for hours, in broad daylight. They fought for their lives themselves, but it wasn’t enough. The murderers were in no hurry. They calmly finished their work and returned to their lair. Nir Oz thus became a symbol of abandonment. Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, along with Oded Lifshitz, were members of Nir Oz. They returned yesterday. After their bodies are identified, they will be buried in the soil of their kibbutz. The person primarily responsible for their abandonment has yet to muster the courage to visit there.  

**Saturated with Poison**  

A day before the return of the fallen hostages, a man named Shlomo Karhi took the podium in the Knesset. A minister in Israel. He delivered one of the most magnificent speeches of hatred and venom heard recently. He turned to MK Alon Schuster from the State Camp, a member of Kibbutz Mefalsim, and hurled this text at him: "I see you wearing a shirt that says, 'The cost of living is not on our backs.' You’re a kibbutznik, eating organic food, saturated with luxury. When have you ever suffered from the cost of living in the kibbutzim?"  

Alon Schuster has devoted his entire life to developing the western Negev in general and the Gaza border communities in particular. His kibbutz, Mefalsim, was attacked on October 7. His son, an IDF platoon commander, went out to fight the attackers. Schuster "spent" that day in the situation room, trying to save as many lives as possible. Not far from him, former MK Shay Hermesh was less fortunate. He and his wife, Hava, were attacked in their home in Kfar Aza. Their son, Omer, was murdered on the spot. The Hermesh couple, along with their daughter, her husband, their granddaughter, and a newborn baby, were besieged for 22 hours by the terrorists until they managed to escape. Their home was completely destroyed.  

Five hundred days have passed, and now MK Schuster faces a minister in the Israeli government who takes the podium to respond on behalf of the government to some proposed legislation, and he defames him and kibbutzniks in general, for no fault of their own. He defamed the farmers of the Gaza border communities, symbols of Zionism and our renewal in the land of Israel, people who work their land to the last furrow, on the Gaza border, even today, after the massacre. He defamed the kibbutzniks who paid the heaviest price on October 7. The people who were abandoned to their fate by the very government in which he sits, washing his hands of any responsibility.  

I ask myself if this obtuse man, Karhi, really thinks that kibbutzniks don’t feel the cost of living, which has reached unprecedented heights under the current government. Where does he draw all this hatred from? Hasn’t he heard that most kibbutzim were privatized long ago? Does he really think that on the eve of the return of the bodies to Kfar Aza, this is the right time to call kibbutzniks "saturated with luxury"?  

Karhi is saturated with poison. It’s a pity he didn’t go over the list of names of the murdered, kidnapped, and surviving kibbutz members. He would have found people from all professions, ethnicities, diasporas, and opinions. They are first-class Zionists and Israeli patriots. Not privileged. They work hard, produce, pay taxes, serve in the regular army and reserves, and make the desert bloom. No one is drafting any draft-dodging laws for them now. On the contrary, the government is shirking its supreme moral duty to bring them home as quickly as possible.  

While we bury the dead and mourn them, Karhi and his colleagues continue to divide us, to sow discord and incite. They do this while dozens of kibbutz members are still held hostage in Gaza. Or their bodies are. Sixteen of them are from Nir Oz. They do this a day before Shiri, Kfir, Ariel, and Oded return to Israel. This will be their legacy and that of their government.  

**The General Correction**  

This column is bleak. It oscillates between grief and rage. The previous columns weren’t optimistic either. The last column, which recounted Netanyahu’s "loyalty speech" in the cabinet, raised great concern among readers. Many wrote to me asking for hope. Something to hold onto. A light at the end of the tunnel.  

Friends, there is hope. There is much hope. The hope is us. The Israelis. Over the past two years, since Yariv Levin emerged with his insane judicial coup, I’ve been moving among the people. I meet them. All the organizations and groups that sprang up overnight to fight for this country. I see the enormous number of patriotic Israelis, lovers of this land with all their heart and soul. Their self-sacrifice. Their love for the Zionist vision, for the enterprise our forefathers established here. Their determination to fight for it. Not to give up.  

After October 7, this grew to biblical proportions. I tell you with certainty: There is no other nation like this. There is no other country with such a concentration of extraordinary people, people capable of any mission, any effort, any miracle needed to protect or save our precious state.  

You meet them in the IDF. In the regular army and reserves. In field units and special forces. You meet the Golani soldiers, tank crews, paratroopers, pilots, engineers, and bulldozer operators. You meet the young and old, secular and religious, kibbutzniks, moshavniks, city dwellers, and settlers. They are bound together, love each other, depend on each other.  

You see the amazing solidarity of the public around its fighters, around its hostages. You see the lines of people standing with Israeli flags along the roads before every military funeral. You see the masses of Israelis who went out yesterday with their flags and coats to the roads leading from the Gaza Strip to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. Standing with a flag in hand, tears in their eyes, in a crazy storm, wind and rain, thunder and lightning. Standing and waiting for the coffins of the Bibas and Lifshitz families. Standing in silence.  

I tell you, with certainty, that this spirit will prevail. I don’t know exactly how, and I don’t know exactly when, but it will prevail. It will bring a new spirit here. It will bring a new government here. There will be ministers and leaders who wake up every morning to work for the state, not for the party. Or the sector. Or their narrow group. It will be a government of patriots for whom the state will be more important than their careers, entourages, and jobs.  

There will be a new spirit here that will return us to what we were: one people. They will no longer scatter us to the winds. They will no longer incite us against each other. They will no longer label entire groups among us with derogatory names. They will no longer accuse, mark, defame, and persecute public servants, law-abiding citizens, and defenders of the realm. There will be leaders here who will earn the people’s trust and repay them with responsibility and leadership. They will not flee from blame, they will not shirk responsibility, they will lead. Citizens will be judged not by their proximity to power, or to the trough, or to the center of the party, but by their contribution to the state, the community, society.  

When this happens, we will all serve, we will all work, we will all share the same fate, the same burden, the same load. There will be no privileged class. No one will turn the elites into enemies of the people. No one will see education, academia, progress, and technology as manifestations of idolatry. We will have to continue fighting our Arab enemies for a long time, but we will not try to imitate their customs or adopt their values.  

The correction will have to be deep. We will need to restore public trust in all the state institutions that have been tarnished in recent years. We have no other Supreme Court, no other judicial system, no other army, Shin Bet, or Mossad. They all need correction, not destruction. We will fortify democracy. We will install brakes, checks, and safeguards to prevent another gang from assaulting it again, somewhere in the future. The word "deterred" will be outlawed. In its place, the word "modesty," long forgotten, will take root.  

A small, even tiny, image of hope that I caught this week on social media: Volunteers from "Brothers in Arms" are finishing rebuilding and renovating one of the neighborhoods in Kfar Aza, a neighborhood almost completely destroyed in the deadly Nukhba attack. This week, they raised the pergolas installed in front of the white houses. In my imagination, I saw the residents of Kfar Aza returning home, sitting on a Saturday morning under the pergola, where fig and vine will intertwine, unafraid, smiling, healing.  

And one more small, true story: A few weeks ago, two reservists who had finished a tour asked to volunteer for the "Brothers in Arms" renovation project in Kfar Aza. They contacted the organization and were told to come to a meeting point near the kibbutz, where a liaison from the association would wait for them and take them to the construction site.  

They arrived. A liaison woman, pleasant-faced, was waiting. Not young. Around her neck were two dog tags. They asked her why two dog tags. "One for the hostages," she said. And the second? they asked.  

"The second is the dog tag of my fiancé who fell while returning hostages," she replied. "His name was Yoni. Yoni Netanyahu." link

 

The Region and the World

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Personal Stories

  

**"On October 9th, while descending into the tunnel, I saw him": Karina's Emotional Letter to Iris Haim**

"Without knowing me, he held my hand, instilled calm, and helped lower my fear. His words still echo in my mind today—'Don’t be afraid, everything will be okay'": Former hostage Karina Ariev wrote from the hospital to the mother of Yotam Haim, who was tragically killed by friendly fire. His mother, Iris, responded: "Thank you, Karina, for remembering him and what he gave. Yotam was strong in captivity—this is a breath of fresh air."

The emotional letter sent by former hostage Karina Ariev from the hospital to the mother of Yotam Haim, who was accidentally killed by IDF fire along with Alon Shamriz and Samer Talalka, has touched many hearts. Iris Haim, Yotam's mother, shared the message she received from Karina, a fellow observer who was with Yotam in captivity, following a report on Ynet. 

In a Facebook post, Iris wrote that last Thursday, while she was in Paris, she received a message from a liaison officer: "You have a letter from one of the observers who returned from captivity." She described feeling chills run through her body, even thousands of kilometers away from the letter. "I managed to read four lines before the driver announced we had arrived, and I stepped out of the taxi with a thick screen of tears."

Karina Ariev and Yotam Haim z"l

### The Letter from Karina Ariev to Iris Haim

In her letter, Karina wrote: "On October 9th, I descended into the tunnel and saw him standing there. Without even knowing me, he approached, held my hand—his red hair tied in a bun, with a smile and eyes that radiated so much calm, love, peace, support, and care. From the first moment, Yotam was radiant and calming. His touch, his hug, his words helped me breathe deeply and understand that as long as Yotam was by my side, I could lower my fear. His words still echo in my mind today: 'Don’t be afraid, everything will be okay.'

"Later, we were separated. After a month and a half, we met again for a few minutes. He always radiated optimism, believed everything would end, cared for us, asked about our stories, embraced me, listened, and his smile never left his face. A big smile that gave hope, happiness, and comfort in a horrific situation. Yotam received drumsticks and a few pots, and I saw how 'happy' he was when he could drum rhythms he knew for us."

Karina with Yotam's family

### Iris Haim's Response

Iris Haim wrote in her post: "Karina Ariev sent us this letter while she was still in the hospital. The letter continues, and there are many more things she told us about Yotam. The information about Yotam gave me a breath of fresh air. Yotam was strong in captivity—he didn’t just care for himself but supported everyone around him. A mental warrior, a powerful hero with a smile that instilled confidence in those younger than him. I miss his smile so much, and unfortunately, for me and for all of us, Yotam’s smile will remain only in memories and photos. But we will pass on Yotam’s true strength."

"Dear Karina, you are part of our family. We know there are others who met Yotam and will tell us wonderful things about this beautiful man, inside and out—an angel who guarded and still guards us," the mother added. "Thank you, Karina, for remembering Yotam and what he gave. This is very important to him, and thank you, Yotam, for every moment you were with us. I believe you love the way we chose to preserve your strength."

At the bottom of the post, she wrote about the memorial project they are promoting and asked for donations to the foundation: "The Yotam House project is exactly what Yotam would have wanted—a place for people facing difficulties in life but who are as strong as Yotam and can come to find their strength with us. Through empowering music, through the inspiration of Yotam’s path. This is our solace. We will no longer hug him, eat burgers with him on his birthday, laugh at his jokes, hear new songs, or go to his concerts. We will meet our Yotam by helping others."  link

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

"DARK LEGACY" is a powerful indictment of Netanyahu's failure to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Netanyahu is the one person who could have -and still can- bring back the hostages. However, he has chosen to abandon them to die as he ruthlessly pursues his own interests.

The blood of innocent civilians torn from their homes, will forever

stain his legacy. He will be remembered through the generations a s 'Mr.Abandonment.' The son of a historian will go down in the annals of history as the one who abandoned citizens in captivity, violating the Israeli ethos. Despite labeling himself as Mr. Economy and Mr. Security, his true legacy i s one of abandonment.

This book illuminates the human cost of Netanyahu's leadership. It features poignant accounts from grieving families, hostages families, and those who have been released, alongside insightful analysis from IDF and intelligence agency leaders, academics, authors, and Nobel laureates. By amplifying the voices of those most affected and offering expert perspectives, this book demands answers and accountability. It i s not merely a critique but a call to action to bring our loved ones home. This is not just their story; it is the story of the Israeli nation's soul. Bring them home. Now.

" This Prime Minister is inhuman.
He walks over everything and
everyone in order to protect his

reign, over the soul oft he Jewish
state and its values, its unity, its security, its economy.

In fact, its existence".

- AARON CIECHANOVER, 2004 Nobel prize laureate.

"Would the Prime Minister  obstruct, once again,

the return of the hostages  solely for personal and 

political reasons?"

- TAMIR PARDO,

F o r m e r  h e a d  o f  t h e  Mossad.

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

IPS - Israel Prison System

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

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