DAY 52 OF THE GAZA WAR:More Hostages Released,Ceasefire Extended, Musk Visits Israel

Tel Aviv Diary, November 27, 2023

Recently, the sound of a helicopter landing at nearby Ichilov Hospital was bad news; a sign that a soldier had been gravely wounded and was being airlifted there. Tonight was different. Moments ago, I watched a helicopter land at Ichilov, from a distance, but I knew it was a happy ending to a difficult day — as 11 hostages who had been released by Hamas less than two hours before were onboard.

Today was another nail-biting day in Israel. Hamas delayed in providing the list of individuals scheduled for release until this morning, instead of last night as was previously agreed upon. However, once the list was finally provided, it was immediately apparent the list was not acceptable to Israel (based on the previously agreed upon criteria regarding preference for hostage release). The initial list contained toddlers without their mothers, with older women included to be set free in their place. A full day of negotiation was required to finalize a satisfactory list. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that an agreement was reached, and only then were families informed who would be released.

Once the final list was publicized, the release process still did not go smoothly. The Red Cross had trouble reaching the transfer site, and it was not until after 10 PM that the hostages crossed over to Israel (as opposed to the 4 PM agreed upon timeline). All of the hostages freed tonight are from Kibbutz Nir Oz. There are 49 members from this Kibbutz still being held hostage by Hamas

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Hamas announced it is now holding an additional 20 women and children, and are therefore able to release 10 additional hostages per day, thereby meeting the conditions required to extend the ceasefire for at least another two days. Hamas also hinted they would be willing to release other types of hostages (e.g. women who are not mothers, and older men, etc.) in order to extend the ceasefire further.

However, Hamas also hinted that the terms would need to be different. Their goal is to extend the ceasefire as far as possible, in the hope that Israel will be pressured to refrain from restarting the war. Once again, I do not see that happening, as 90% of Israelis favor fighting this war until Hamas is removed from power. Therefore, I anticipate that the war is likely to resume once the hostage exchange concludes.

Elma Avraham (age 84), was rushed to the hospital upon returning to Israel, and remains in critical condition. Today, Avraham’s daughter attacked the Red Cross, sharing that she had worked with her mother's Medical HMO and obtained all of her medications. She brought the life-saving medication to the Red Cross and asked them to try to get the medicine to her mother. They summarily refused. As a result, during the whole period Avraham was held captive, she did not get any of the drugs that had been controlling her multiple pre-existing health conditions. Avraham returned barely conscious, and in life-threatening condition.

One of my readers disagreed with my view that it was important to give the hostage story media attention. The reader said that:

Agreeing to a hostage agreement might be a good idea, but that the decision [regarding release of the hostages] should be made on a cold examination of the situation. The question is what is best for the nation, not what is best for 240 people. However, all the coverage makes the decision, perhaps, based on emotional pressure and not logic or reason.

I am sympathetic to the argument, but ultimately think it is wrong. There is no question that the war would be easier to win if we were not concerned with the hostages, but there is no way that the Israeli government can ultimately ignore women and children being held captive by Hamas. If the IDF had had any success in rescuing more than one hostage, people might have been able to say that we can make a cold calculation just based on how best to conduct the war. However, since the IDF was not able to rescue anyone, there was no choice but to find a way to reach an agreement that will allow some of the hostages to come back home.

I have always known when I travel, if somehow I got into trouble, it would be the Israeli Embassy I would call, and not the US Embassy. It's not that the US doesn't care about its citizens, but Israel has consistently gone above and beyond in this regard. Here, you have women and children who did not travel to places they shouldn’t and did not take risks they should not have. They were sleeping in their homes, inside Israel, when Hamas terrorists stole them. This sort of kidnapping constitutes the most profound breech of contract between citizens and their country. Thus, there is no choice, but to do whatever possible to bring them home.

As the release of hostages continues, very tough choices are likely to come — should we get to the question of freeing soldiers.

Israel received two incredibly different visitors today. The first was the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and his wife Ella. President Herzog took them to Kibbutz Be’eri to see the massive destruction. Steinmeier pledged money from Germany to rebuild the Kibbutz art gallery.

The second visitor was more controversial, the richest man in the world, and the owner of “X” (formerly Twitter), Tesla, and SpaceX … Elon Musk. Musk is a controversial figure, who is accused of making antisemitic statements, and clearly does nothing to block antisemites on “X”.

Regarding Musk’s visit to Israel, Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, stated:

This is now the second time Bibi has given cover to this raging antisemite – just after Musk’s explicit embrace of conspiracy theories directly responsible for the mass murder of Jews and others. Make no mistake: normalizing Musk directly undermines Jewish safety.

On the other hand, Musk has tremendous influence, and his decision to remove any tweets that contain the phrase “From the River to the Sea” is a step in the right direction. Musk, the businessman understands that his tweets, in agreement with antisemitic tweets, hurt his business. Major brands like Apple and Disney have halted their advertising on X.

Musk believes coming to Israel will compensate for the hate speech against Jews he has promoted. The question is should Israel go along and help Musk?  The problem with Musk and “X” goes beyond the one tweet. Musk has allowed antisemitic speech to run rampant on “X”. Whether Musk acted because he believes the antisemitic tropes, or because he is really committed to absolute free speech, the results are the same. “X” clearly contributes to the rise of antisemitism in the world. On the other hand, Musk is a very powerful figure and Israel needs as many friends as it can get. It’s a hard call, but I doubt Israel could have said no to Musk’s visit.

Musk visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza with Netanyahu and viewed the film that portrays exactly what Hamas did on October 7th (including footage gathered from Hamas GoPro cameras). Afterward, Musk stated that the joy he saw on the faces of the Hamas fighters was pure evil. He went on to say, “the rebuttal is that Israel has killed civilians in Gaza, but there is an important difference here: Israel does everything it can to avoid killing civilians; there is no joy expressed at killing civilians.”

Musk further stated, “those who intend on murder must be neutralized, and the propaganda that is training people to be murderers in the future must stop; then we can make Gaza prosperous, and then there could be a good future.” Netanyahu said to Musk, “I hope you will be a part of this,” to which Musk answered, “I would like to help.” Musk also met with both President Herzog and MK Benny Gantz.

A final thought about Elon Musk. If Musk had come to visit Israel under normal circumstances, one would anticipate he’d meet the leaders of our high tech companies, as well as some of our leading scientists. It would be less expected for Musk to receive a security briefing from our political leaders. These are very unusual times.

BUSINESS

Elbit Systems Ltd. was awarded a contract by Airbus Defense and Space to supply the Direct Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM) and Infrared (IR) Missile Warning Systems for installation on the MRTT A330 refueling aircraft for Canada. The contract will be performed over a period of five years.