A few months ago, I wrote a piece “I am Numb” after learning of the horrific news that 6 Israeli hostages had been summarily executed by Hamas in the tunnels. It was such senseless violence on individuals that were being held so cruelly that I could not comprehend the inhumanity.
January 19th, the first day of the recently agreed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, was a different day. In the morning, we got news that a special commando unit conducted operation in Gaza and was able to retrieve the body of Oron Shau, a soldier who had been held there since 2014. Then in the afternoon we had the first exchange under the recent ceasefire agreement, and we were rejoiced to see the images of the three young women, Emily, Romy and Doron being reunited with their families.
No one can see those images of reunions and not feel happiness and relief for those families.
But the reason why I have written I am honoured but not happy is that as much as we are so happy for those families, we now have 94 more hostages that we need to recover, and we cannot describe ourselves as happy until all of them come back.
But I am honoured because I am part of a people that will go so far to save the life of one of our own.
The morning operation included having our most elite units risk their lives into enemy territory to recover the remains of one of their own. It was not even a consideration to risk the lives of one of most elite units once we had the proper intelligence of where to find the body.
The ceasefire deal that has created much debate here in Israel, involves us not just halting the operations in Gaza before Hamas has been eliminated but return several incredible evil prisoners who have blood in their hands. It is another reflection of the price we are willing to pay to bring back home our people.
Rational minds can have endless discussions about the merits of both operations, and I can assure you that the political minds are having endless debates here about their political value.
Edward MIsrahi
But that’s not what drives us – it is not just rationality and politics – it is a belief that any of our own wherever they are needs an attempt to save them. Maybe we went too far in some of these plans in the past, but the principle always remains the same. Saving our people.
There are so many reasons it has been a blessing for my family to live in Israel. How people have rallied together, the sacrifice during a time of war, the endless examples of help that happen every day at every level. But today I am particularly honoured to live in a country and be a part of a people who live their lives like that. It is not always rational or consistent, but it is a philosophy in life that has been the reason why we are still around despite the constant efforts to destroy us
and demonise us over thousands of years.
Who knows what the next weeks will bring as we get exchanges every Sunday that hopefully will bring more joy to more families here. We are all hopeful but know that there has never been a ceasefire that Hamas has not broken and that the head of the evil snake, Iran, remains still largely untouched even though there has been a lot of damage to their proxies. We will need to continue to show the strength we have done over the military campaign, and I am hopeful that the new US administration will provide an even stronger and consistent support for our security.
But I know that with this philosophy and approach, there is no chance that we will be defeated in our desire to live in Israel with peace and security. Antisemites globally can shout at us lies and try to intimidate us and evil organizations like Hamas or Hezbollah can try to rebuild to inflict us more damage.
But we have a weapon they will never have and that will always allow us to prevail. Our care for human life. I am honoured to be part of this people, and I am looking forward to the day where, through our strength, we will be receiving more news that will make it possible to properly celebrate. I have no doubts that soon I will be able to write that one.
But not yet.
- Edward Misrahi is a businessman, philanthropist and former chair of BICOM (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre)
