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the first to go out [to fight the terrorists]

the remains of Ran Gvilli, the last hostage remaining in Gaza, have been discovered (in a mass grave of Palestinians/terrorists), identified positively, and brought back to Israel just now for burial.

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In light of that, MK Pnina Tamano-Shata (Kachol Lavan) proposed a law to have the government fund each returned hostage, and the family of each dead hostage, to the tune of 4 million shekels. The idea being, their recovery should be dependantupon the success of a crowd funding campaign but they should be taken care of by the State after what they went through.

Today the proposal came to vote. The Coalition voted it down 50-40 thus defeating the law and sending the hostages back to the crowd funding platforms.

I have not seen any explanation, as of the time of this writing, given by members of the Coalition who voted against. If anyone can explain why they voted against, please explain in the comments. Did they think the law should say 6 million or 3 million or 1 million? Do they think they are not responsible to help with their recovery? Or if you saw an explanation given by Coalition members, please point me in that drection. 

It seems the government that funded Hamas refuses to also fund its victims.

The government that expanded itself to 25 ministries with tremendous waste wont spend on the hostages.

To be fair, it should be noted that via Bituach Leumi the hostages and families do get an initial sum of 60000nis each, along with 9000nis per month for life, along with some other financial assistance packages for various purposes...

I would really like to hear what the coalition considered bad about this law proposal that they had to oppose it.

I did this several times over the past two years for the processions of local hero soldiers being taken for burial after falling in the war, it is nice to do it in a more celebratory fashion for the celebration of a returned hostage...

I dont know about all that. The apology definitely does not bother me. That is diplomacy. Netanyahu is beholden to President Trump, Israel's last supporter, he has to do what Trump wants, and that is what Trump needs to have any chance of getting this deal underway. The apology does not bother me. This is a small price to pay to have any chance at all to get the deal underway.

Netanyahu tried to convince the Israeli people the operation in Qatar was not a failure saying Hamas now knows they can't hide and are not safe anywhere. And he said explicitly that he would strike again if and when the opportunity presents itself. I think today's apology and commitment to not attack again contravenes that.

I am good with Netanyahu making this deal. Israel is strong and can handle and deal with any and all of the points that will be finalized and agreed upon. I have thought this all along with other deals on the table at other times and think it now. Those attacking it from the Left are somewhat hypocritical, those attacking it from the Right are not hypocritical but those on the Right making and supporting the deal that is similar in many aspects to the deals they refused to consider all along for ending the war are hypocritical too. For many on the Left, whatever Bibi says is bad even if they supported it all along and it matches their own agenda. For many on the Right whatever Bibi says is great even if just yesterday they criticized the very thought of it and it was supposedly the polar opposite of their agenda. 

For those saying it will allow Hamas to perpetrate another October 7, that means they are planning to abandon Israel's borders again and leave them defenseless. Israel is strong enough to protect its borders if it wants to (of course with God's help). We are only at risk of another October 7 if we go back to the old policies of letting Hamas do whatever it wants in exchange for some sense of quiet. Make the deal that is reasonable, end this too-long-war and get back the remaining hostages,, and rehab the country.

Why am I happy? 

I am happy because it is about time - after nearly two years of accepting deals on the terms set by Hamas, accepting many of the demands put forth by Hamas, finally Israel is being proactive and trying to set the tone and terms of the deal.

Will the Israeli team stick to it and keep the demands for a full deal (end the war, return all the hostages) and will Israel capitulate and agree to a smaller partial deal? This remains to be seen, but for now I am happy Israel did not accept the first Hamas response and is standing firm on its demand. 

I am not even talking about the specific terms of the deal on the table and of the Hamas offer. I am just saying I am happy Israel now isnt just accepting whatever crumbs Hamas offers and is instead finally being proactive about the terms of a deal.

Minister Amichai Eliyahu today said in an interview that the hostages should be called "shvuyim" and not "chatufim", and their return should only be dealt with at the end of the war.

Some people are upset about him trying to change the term to shvuyim from chatufim, some think he is right, I just dont get it.

Chatufim means kidnapped.

Shvuyim means captives

Bnei Aruba means hostages.

In English the hostages have always been called Hostages. In Hebrew they have been called Chatufim. So that was always a discrepancy.

Honestly I have thought all along that chatufim is a less than accurate term for the hostages. 

Why are some insisting on using the term chatufim, and some prefer to switch it to shvuyim? Technically they should be called Beni Aruba. Shvuyim is pretty close and might even be considered somewhat interchangeable with Bnei Aruba. What is more accurate and what is the big difference if they are called one or the other? 

And maybe Eliyahu is right, I dont know, but the response would then be yalla get to work and finish the war, why is it taking so long?

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While we need to get the mission done and they should do what it takes for that to happen, I am wondering if the success in Iran can have an effect on Gaza. 

With Iran out of the picture, assuming we can successfully neutralize the threat from Iran to the fullest capacity, and especially if the regime collapses, as is thought (and as some seem to expect) can very well happen, will Hamas feel isolated, with one of their 2 main sponsors gone? Will they feel pressured to end it, to give up and surrender?

I hope the Israeli leadership is telling Steve Witkoff to prepare a new plan by which we do not talk about 10 hostages for x months and then another 5, etc. Rather with the success of the Iran mission behind us, we should be telling Hamas to finish it now, we will only take everyone for an end of the war with surrender (and however the banishment of Hamas is supposed to happen. And at the same time President Trump should be pressuring Qatar to officially stop supporting Hamas.

As Amit Segal pointed out, it is ironic and crazy that he will immediately fly to Qatar and meet with the sponsors of Hamas who took and held him hostage.

It is not strange that he is going to meet with Trump, and since Trump seems to not be coming to Israel on this trip Alexander will fly to him instead. Meeting the Emir of Qatar is strange. Perhaps it is simply because he is going to Qatar to meet Trump so that makes meeting the Emir inevitable and maybe unavoidable.

That being said, I hope he takes the opportunity to tell them what he went through, describe the conditions of his captivity, and plead with them to pressure Hamas to release the rest of the hostages.

People have been somewhat perturbed by the fact that Idan Alexander is getting a separate deal, even prioritized, because he holds American citizenship.

Personally I think we should celebrate the release and any and every hostage regardless of the reason he or she is being released. If his American citizenship helped him in this case right now, good for him for his family finding a way to utilize it. 

I am happy he is being freed and I hope the rest are sent or brought home soon, for whatever reason can be established.

Feldman fell in the battle of Sultan Yacoub, alongside Zachary Baumel and Yehuda Katz. Baumel's remains were recovered in 2019 and brought back for Jewish burial, and now Feldman joins Baumel in restful peace at a grave in Israel his family can visit. 

Hopefully they will soon locate and recover the remains of Yehuda Katz as well.

This was surely a complicated mission. Kudos to all involved, from Prime Minister Netanyahu who had to approve the mission to the Mossad and IDF operatives who had to plan it and carry it out safely.

Such an operation is important for the Feldmans, including Tzvi himself, and for the morale of the entire nation.

There are reports that the remains of four bodies were brought back, one of which was identified as Zvi Feldman's remains, and the others are still being tested for identification. Hopefully the reports are true and the remains will be positively identified and other painful chapters of our history will be closed.

I had the honour of walking the @TIME
red carpet and standing among an incredible group of people at the #TIME100 - but my heart was somewhere else.

A year ago, I wasn’t sure I’d make it out alive. I was lucky—I was rescued.​

But 59 innocent people are still trapped.
Still… pic.twitter.com/d8dNjzQQBy

— Noa Argamani (@ArgamaniNoa) April 28, 2025

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