Week many citizens go down the streets in various cities of Israel asking the government to bring back hostages from Gaza.

According to recent polls, about 70% of Israelis are in favor of a deal to release the remaining 59 hostages held by Hamas. Many officials and executives of the Israeli Armed Forces, who are calling for hostages to prioritize Hamas, also make in similar statements.

A recent initiative of Air Force pilots and crews received the support and a group of 250 former Mosad officials. In their open letter, they said, among other things, that “we are drawn up with the request for immediate action with the aim of reaching an agreement to return the 59 hostages, without delay, even at the cost of the cessation of the war.”

The letter concluded with a message to the Prime Minister Netanyahu himself: “The sacredness of life, Mr. Prime Minister, overrides the god of revenge.”

The government is moving towards “the wrong direction”

On March 18, Israel again began military operations in Gaza, after the collapse of negotiations on the second phase of the truce agreement with Hamas. During the first phase, about 40 Israeli and foreign hostages were released from Gaza, while Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

According to Haim Tomer, a former Mosad senior official with decades in the House, the government’s decision to interrupt the truce was one of the reasons that made him oppose. “People are beginning to wonder how much the war will continue until we succeed in bringing our hostages back,” Tomer tells DW. “The idea behind our public letters is to say to Israeli society that the government is moving in the wrong direction and that this direction will not bring back hostages. Homer can be killed every day passing. “

Criticism against Netanyahu’s

The current and former Air Force executives who began the open letters campaign accused Netanyahu and his government of risking the lives of hostages and Israeli soldiers for the sole purpose of gaining political benefits for themselves.

“At the moment war is primarily political and personal interests, not the country’s security interests,” the letters still said. “The continuation of the war does not contribute to the achievement of any military targets and will lead to the deaths of hostages, soldiers of Israeli armed forces and innocent citizens, as well as the exhaustion of the reserves.”

Avner Yarkoni, who has served 35 years as a pilot in the Air Force and as head of the Israeli Civil Authority, says, for his part, that the war was initially justified, but now many feel it is not leading anywhere. “In the end we realized that the prime minister wants to continue the war in perpetuity,” Yarkoni told DW. “When the war stops, there will be two issues: elections and one Inquiry Committee. And then Netanyahu will no longer be prime minister. “

Critics also point out that Netanyahu’s decision to resume the war and the non -negotiation of the second phase of the truce agreement with Hamas was the result of the Israeli Prime Minister’s need to keep his far -right partners in the government coalition. The latter threatened to leave the government if the war expires – and in this case the Netanyahu government coalition would collapse.

“I have served the state of Israel for 40 years … and I can tell the Prime Minister and every minister, looking at him in the eyes:” You’re wrong about how we can safeguard the future of Israel, “says Tomer. With the “maximization of military pressure” to Hamas, the government endangers the lives of the hostages. “We are pilots … Fighting Hamas, while being hostage, is like fighting with hands tied,” Yarkoni adds. Resentment in the ranks of the Reserve, many of whom have been called upon to serve and participated in business for months, is a problem for the army. Israel has a rather small permanent army and in times of war is largely based on reserves.

Netanyahu rejected the letter

Netanyahu immediately rejected the letter of the Air Force officials, stating that it was drafted by a “marginalized and extremist group that is again trying to harm Israeli society from the inside”. The prime minister also ordered the dismissal of the reserves who signed the letter, but few of them were active.

Netanyahu’s rejecting attitude has led even more Israelis, including reserves and retired executives of various military units, as well as many other citizens, to express their solidarity with Air Force officials.

Is there really a will for peace?

There were, of course, many who did not accept the letters universally, nor the strategic proposal “first hostages, after the war”. Dalia Sydlin, a journalist at Haaretz, recently wrote that only some of the letters refer to the Palestinian martyrdom amid the horrible humanitarian crisis raging in Gaza.

She also wrote that although the return of the hostages is the most “united purpose in Israel today”, if it is not achieved “a end of the war along with a political context for the preservation of peace – no matter how incomplete – how will the campaign to liberate the hostages”?

At the same time, mobilizations and demonstrations against government and in favor of release of hostages are increasing. “We supported the demonstrations throughout the previous year. We want the hosts to return to their homes, but also to end the war for everyone, “Hila tells DW, who does not want to share her surname.

Yarkoni says, for his part, many Israelis, like himself, are still injured by the October 7 attacks. “We haven’t surpassed it yet, because stories and videos from that day are constantly appearing in front of us. It was a horrible massacre, “he says.

Nevertheless, he adds, at this stage of the war “we might hit more citizens than terrorists”. He hopes at least that open letters will help to form a new dynamics, which will facilitate the return of the hostages to Israel.

Curated by: George Passas