The military correspondent for Yediot Achranot Yossi Yehoshua wrote a strongly worded article expressing his opposition to the hostage deal approved by the Israeli government early Wednesday morning.

“No Israeli citizen will remain unmoved by the return of hostages of Gaza,” Yehoshua began. “However, despite the difficulty and shared concern, the role of the leadership and the media is to consider the hidden dangers of the move, as was presented on Tuesday to the government’s ministers.”

Yehoshua continued by noting the mistakes – “the false conception” – made by Israel’s military leaders that enabled the success of the Hamas attack on October 7th. “In the war cabinet and the IDF General Staff, there’s not even a single voice challenging the false conception that led us to the disaster from which we’re now trying to save ourselves.”

“The same government responsible for the biggest failure in the country’s history is pushing the deal, which it says it has no choice but to accept. Even if people like IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, both highly commendable men of stature, stand fully behind the deal, it’s not certain that one can separate their responsibility from their justified sense of guilt.”

“It’s clear that without the unanimous support of security officials, there would have been no deal. War cabinet members say that the strong push for the deal came from these officials, not from some ministers associated with the deal.”

“In response to concern that the deal would completely halt the war, the public was told that there was a commitment to renew the fighting after four days. but again, the enemy is an irrational player, a ruthless murderer, and one who knows how to exploit Israeli society’s soft underbelly.”

Yehoshua pointed out that just as Hamas took advantage of the split in society due to left-wing protests as an opportunity to attack, “it is using the hostages to garner Israel’s public support for the deal while it prepares for future actions. From its perspective, the cost to the lives of Gazans is negligible.”

“Somehow, the monster that sent terrorists to slaughter Israelis will receive legitimacy after releasing 50 captives out of over 200, helping him secure a complete cease-fire. Hamas will use the images of bodies buried under rubble in Gaza to enlist world support to stop Israel from continuing the war.

“Even in these agreed-upon four days of pause in fighting, the IDF’s offensive momentum will be halted, allowing Sinwar to regroup and launch an improved offensive.

“Meanwhile, the agreement on a temporary cessation of drone and UAV activity for several hours a day in Gaza poses a danger to IDF forces, and Israelis should doubt what former generals and other analysts say when they try to claim there are alternative solutions. The truth is simple: there are none.”

“Meanwhile, troops on the ground, at the peak of their offensive effort, will be forced to stop, commanders will have to avoid complacency and also deal with the mental difficulty of returning to full-fledged combat should the cease-fire end after four days. And what will the forces do if they are shot at? Or if rockets are launched by other Gaza terror groups? Will there be a powerful response despite the danger to the return of the hostages?”

“The IDF is a powerful army, and the soldiers are doing excellent work and are ready to pay with their lives to achieve the war’s goals, including bringing Israeli captives back home. But under the current conditions, Israel may miss a historic opportunity to fundamentally change Gaza, both by paying with the lives of soldiers and by missing out on a better deal.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)