While many in Israel are celebrating the news of the Gaza deal that should see the release of all 48 remaining hostages, some are not rejoicing. The Jerusalem Post spoke to several Israelis about the concerns regarding the deal, the fear of repercussions of releasing terrorists from prisons, and the worry of another October 7.
"In this round, the terrorists won," Michael told the Post on Thursday.
"Because of political reasons, from both the right and the left, terrorists were allowed into the country and given a free hand to slaughter us like sheep."
"Now we're making deals with terrorists, which will only bring upon us even worse harm in the near future. We made the Shalit deal and we got October 7 in return. And after this deal, they’ll come back and do something even worse."
"Hamas is still in the same place, Gaza will still be a terror zone. We’re releasing thousands of terrorists who hate us, and will happily do it again."
"So no, I’m absolutely not happy about this deal."
Sending the wrong message to terrorists
Fayga agreed.
"I feel hopeless," she told the Post. "I'm not happy about the deal at all. I feel like we're not capable of winning wars. The last war we won was the Six Day War, every war since then I feel like we've just been shooting ourselves in the foot and hurting ourselves. We don't learn our lessons ever, and the next October 7 is just going to happen, and some of the terrorists we are letting out are going to be the next Sinwars. It's not that I want our brothers and sisters to sit in the dungeons of hell and be starved by Hamas terrorists, but from day 1, this war was complicated."
"I think for many of us, there is that understanding that we may not be able to bring everyone home, and war has a price, and the price we are paying right now is that we are showing our enemies that we are losers. By releasing terrorists, we are saying all you need to do is massacre and rape women and children and men and kill people, and then you get whatever you want."
"The next disaster, the next massacre is just going to start."
Cristina [not her real name] told the Post that she is happy about the return of our brothers and sisters and thanks all those who took part in their expected release, but that "at the same time, we have not forgotten, and will never forget, October 7: the embodiment of absolute evil and the loss of humanity."
"History has shown that such evil will resurface, and unfortunately, this deal will lead to further bloodshed in the future."
"I hope that the government of Israel and the security leadership will learn the necessary lessons, remain alert to potential dangers, and understand that Israel’s security depends first and foremost on its own strength, power, and resilience," she added.