Originally published in St. Louis Jewish Light
This is the original version composed by Rabbi Smason
A ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas. The accord’s first stage is to see the phased release of 33 hostages—alive or dead—over a period of 42 days. Israel estimates that 25 of the 33 people on the list of hostages to be returned in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement are alive.
The release of imprisoned Palestinian terrorists is one of several Israeli obligations. What guidance can we find from the Torah regarding the emerging hostage deal?
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One hundred of Israel’s leading rabbinic authorities have publicly declared what almost every Torah scholar who supports IDF service knows: The Halacha (Jewish law) forbids endangering the nation even for the precious mitzvah of redeeming the captives. The Torah teaches that we “must not ransom captives for more than their value, for tikun olam, the good order of the world” (Talmud).
Why? If we are willing to pay any price, no matter how exorbitant, to free our loved ones who have been taken hostage, our enemies will only be encouraged to kidnap more Jews in the future.
A precedent of this principle can be learned from the tragic incident of what occurred to a great medieval rabbi.
Meir of Rothenburg was a German rabbi in the 13th century who was acknowledged as the greatest Jewish leader of European Jewry in his time. When Rabbi Meir was at the peak of his stature and importance to the Jewish world, he was kidnapped and imprisoned in a fortress, with an exorbitantly large ransom demanded by his captors.
Though the ransom was raised by his community, Rabbi Meir refused release for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. He ruled on his own abduction in light of Torah law. For seven years, Rabbi Meir remained a prisoner, until his death in 1293.
Rabbi Meir was imprisoned for financial considerations. But when the release of hostages carries life-threatening consequences to other Jews and the Jewish nation, the Halacha is even more definitive. Jewish law states the release of dangerous terrorists is forbidden because they endanger the state’s future and the safety of its citizens.
The Jewish world learned this truth the hard way on October 7, 2023. In 2011, Israel released 1,027 convicted terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas six years earlier. As Rabbi Meir understood, a lopsided deal like the Gilad Shalit exchange was bound to incentivize antisemites to abduct more Jews.
The Shalit exchange led to the strengthening of Hamas and to several deadly attacks and wars. Among the terrorists released in 2011: Yahya Sinwar, the now infamous leader of Hamas in Gaza and the mastermind of the October 7 massacre and abduction. Sinwar was the proximate cause of over 2,000 who have died since October 7 (1,200 that day and over 800 Israeli soldiers since).
According to the Justice Ministry, in the current ceasefire accord, Israel will release 1,904 Palestinian terrorists in just the first stage of the hostage deal: Among them murderers who killed hundreds of Israelis.
Included in the group of terrorists to be released are Zakaria Zubeidi, who assumed responsibility for the 2002 Beit She’an attack that killed 6 people ; Mohammad Abu Warda, responsible for two 1996 Jerusalem bus bombings that killed 45; and Mahmoud Attalah, convicted of murdering a Palestinian woman from Ramallah who he believed was collaborating with Israel. Attalah was also under indictment for sexually assaulting and raping three female prison guards.
Past and recent history does not raise the question whether some of the soon-to-be released terrorists (to Gaza, Judea and Samaria) will again assault and murder Israelis. Rather, the question is when, and how manyIsraelis will be attacked, assaulted and murdered.
The release of more than a thousand Hamas murderers and rapists is an old script that always plays out the same in each sequel and remake: The deal will save tens of Jews while those released will murder hundreds if not thousands of Jews. While we rejoice at the saving of the life of a single Jewish hostage, there is no commandment that justifies risking the lives of the Jewish community.
Have we squandered the lives of our precious soldiers just to restore the status quo of October 6, 2023? Most importantly, if the war resumes after the end of the cease fire, how many Israeli soldiers will be killed once again conquering the same swaths of Gaza, soon to again be fully booby-trapped and mined? Why would any soldier want to go back there – our finest youth – to be killed and maimed seizing territory today that we will surrender to the enemy tomorrow. For what? For what did they die?
Within the past few weeks Steve Witkoff, then President-elect Trump’s Middle East Envoy, sat down with PM Netanyahu to deliver a stark message: “The president has been a great friend of Israel, and now it’s time to be a friend back.” Doubtless, there are political advantages to the ceasefire deal — on both sides.
But in weighing political ‘reality’ against morality, there is no contest. Morality should never be sacrificed for political advantage, gain or consideration. Pressure from US presidents — Democrat or Republican — should be meaningless if they weaken our core values and interests. That is how independent nations act: they define their interests and do everything to achieve them.
May G-d give Israel’s leaders the wisdom to act responsibly and judiciously, and to find solutions that will ensure the security of the entire people. Despite the immense importance of redeeming captives, it must not come at the expense of the safety of Israel and its citizens.
Let us pray for the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program, the fall of its government, the elimination or total disablement of Hamas and Iran’s proxies, the return of all of Israel’s hostages, and soon see the time when Israel and Jews throughout the world can live in safety and security.
Expanded from an article published in the St. Louis Jewish Light
Rabbi Ze’ev Smason is Chairman of the Missouri chapter of the Coalition for Jewish Values
Photo: Anti-Israel Protest by Ted Eytan, with CC BY-SA (2.0) on Flickr