'This deal is blackmail': Israel makes necessary concession with hostage agreement

Deal between Hamas and Israel sparks widespread joy, but some in the country are worried it could encourage more violence

Fifty hostages are coming back to Israel after a widespread political movement piled the pressure on the Israeli government to do more to rescue them. AFP

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In the early days of the Israel-Gaza war, Israelis were almost totally united in their desire for a crushing response to Hamas’s assault.

Vowing revenge was a far easier task than formulating the sort of complex response required to solve the major issue presented by the October 7 attack, the roughly 240 hostages that were taken to Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Within weeks, this started to change. A formidable media campaign for the release of hostages took shape within days of their capture.

Soon, the faces of those taken hostage became symbols of Israel’s struggle during the war, at home and abroad.

The movement has now helped to secure the most significant diplomatic achievement since the war began, with the help of many in the international community. On Wednesday morning, news broke that 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were coming home.

Hamas secured Palestinian swaps in return but there will also be more humanitarian aid coming into Gaza and a four-day pause in Israeli bombardment.

Some Israeli voices on the right said even the noble goal of saving hostages was not worth any concessions to Hamas.

Former Israeli National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror disagrees, along with the vast majority of Israeli society.

"Even though this deal is blackmail, it saves the lives of 50 children, women and elderly," Mr Amidror said.

"In a way, we should be proud as a society that we are ready to be blackmailed to save them."

He does not believe Hamas can get enough concessions to turn the tide of the battle in its favour.

"This deal does give Hamas more time to prepare for the next stage of the war but I don’t think there’s any benefit for them in having more humanitarian supplies," he said.

Israel had maintained a stiff stance on the hostage deal for weeks, refusing any suggested truce or a release of Palestinian prisoners unless all 240 Israeli hostages were released first.

To some critics of the deal the concession from the Israeli government could be construed as a compromise or even an acknowledged defeat.

"Hamas will take whatever it can, no question, but it’s not as if this pause allows Hamas to bring more forces from somewhere else – Gaza is a closed area," said the former adviser, stressing the limited advantage this offers the militant group.

"It will not change the balance of power between the [Israeli military] and Hamas, it is more for [Gazan] civilians," he added.

The deal could probably not have happened without the increasing prominence of the hostage crisis within Israel and Hamas’s ability to seize an opportunity for negotiations, seeing the effect it was having on Israeli politics.

However, while the quest for hostage release might be a growing movement in Israel, government statements leading up to the announcement of the deal were far from celebratory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening “there is a lot of nonsense out there to the effect that after the pause to return our hostages, we will stop the war”.

“I would like to reiterate: the war is continuing and the war will continue until we achieve all of our goals – eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer threaten Israel, that there will be no other element that supports terrorism, educates its children for terrorism and threatens the state of Israel.”

In what seems like a contradiction, Mr Netanyahu was vowing to continue the fight against Hamas just as he struck a deal with the group.

It was an attempt to placate sceptics, particularly on the far right, who say hostage deals encourage more violence against Israel.

Sceptics such as far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had said the deal would be a disaster.

Almagor, a high-profile Israeli association for victims of terrorism, on Wednesday said it was filing a petition to the High Court opposing the deal, arguing that similar agreements had merely encouraged groups such as Hamas to take hostages.

Gershon Baskin, who played a pivotal role in negotiations to release an Israeli hostage from Hamas captivity in 2011, said despite the criticism, the deal was politically the right thing to do for the Netanyahu administration.

"Everyone wants to see these hostages free and tomorrow will begin the festival of celebration when we see the first group of 12 children, women and elderly coming back to Israel," he said.

He described Mr Ben Gvir and others on the far right as being "detached from the people" in this case.

"There is a hardcore – maximum 20 per cent – of Israelis that agree with them but the vast majority is behind this deal and believes there was no other choice."

Despite the mounting civilian casualties on the Palestinian side, it seems Israeli society is still largely united in support of the military campaign in Gaza and the goal of eliminating Hamas. But the hostage deal is an early and significant example of how that unity could fracture.

For now, Israeli politicians rallied round the deal – but there are many more hostages to be released, testing the desire for deal-making with Hamas.

Israeli society had never been more divided as it was before the war. If those divisions return even to a lesser degree and international condemnation mounts, the military campaign in Gaza could turn from a patriotic issue into a political one, in which Israelis tussle more and more over the mission's priorities and tactics.