‘A waiting room until they can attack us again’: The ceasefire deal tearing Israel apart

‘The idea of exchanging hostages for thousands of terrorists is strictly against Jewish law’

January 21, 2025

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

Reprinted from WND — World Net Daily

KATZRIN, Israel – While all of Israel is celebrating the return of three girl hostages from 471 days of Hamas nightmare, some are struggling with deep concern over the U.S.-brokered deal that forced Israel to pay a heavy price for their release, leaving Israeli society broken and divided.

This divide was evident as people took to the streets. On Saturday night, hours before the deal was to take effect, thousands of Israelis protested across the country. Protesters in Jerusalem demanded a comprehensive agreement that would free all the captives at once, rather than in stages, to avert the risk that some of the 98 hostages could be left behind throughout the multi-stage deal.

At the same time, thousands gathered on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, where families of hostages spoke. This protest has been held weekly and is highly critical of the Netanyahu-led coalition, blaming them for not cutting a deal earlier.

The ceasefire deal contains three phases, the first of which is a temporary ceasefire in which 33 hostages are to be released in a staggered fashion, with hostages in the “humanitarian” category being released first – women, children, and wounded or sick hostages.

Hamas has pledged to release 33 hostages in the 42-day first phase of the deal. Most but not all of them are believed to be alive. In exchange, Israel will hand over up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terrorist attacks and murders. Four more women hostages are supposed to be released by Saturday.

Some of these Palestinian murderers will be released into Gaza, where they will undoubtedly enter the ranks of Hamas as honored heroes. Others will be released into Samaria, where they will return to their previous career of murdering Jews. Israel used to have a strict policy of not negotiating with terrorists, leading to such endeavors as the rescue of 102 hostages from the Entebbe Airport in 1976. But that policy was changed, culminating in the deal that exchanged more than 1,000 Palestinian terrorists for one IDF soldier, Gilad Schalit, in 2011.

In a recent study, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar presented data to the ministers in the security cabinet, stating that “82% of those released in the Gilad Shalit deal in 2011 returned to terrorism” and that 15% of them carried out attacks themselves after their release in the deal, or planned the attacks.

One of those terrorists released in the Schalit deal was Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack.

Bar also told the cabinet the current release of terrorists is expected to increase the motivation to carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria.

Israelis are painfully aware of this reality. In a poll aired Friday on the Kan public broadcaster, 65% of the Israeli public expressed support for the first phase of the deal, which will see the release of 33 hostages over six weeks. Only 55% of voters support adhering to the terms of the deal through all three phases, which would require Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire at the end of the second phase.

However, 46% of coalition voters told Kan that Israel should resume fighting in Gaza after the first phase.

The social divide is also expressed in politics. The Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party led by Itamar Ben Gvir broke from the coalition due to criticism of the ceasefire deal. The Religious Zionism party led by Bezalel Smotrich threatened to leave the coalition, leaving the future of the government in doubt.

Even if all of the elements on the Israeli side coalesce in support of the ceasefire, it could also implode from the side of the Palestinians. The current agreement calls for the dismantling of Hamas, one of the stated goals of Israel’s war in Gaza. Hamas leaders have rejected this aspect of the ceasefire agreement. Despite Hamas’ brutal rule, the terrorist organization remains popular in Gaza and Samaria; more so in the latter case than the official Palestinian Authority.

The deal also threatens to separate Israel and the U.S. While Trump threatened there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released by his inauguration, it was his negotiator, Steve Witkoff, who engineered the terms that favored Hamas and threatened to leave the terrorist group in power, falling far short of the promised retribution.

Trump and his team seem to be sending mixed signals regarding whether they’d support Israel continuing the war in Gaza until Hamas is entirely eliminated. During a call last week, Trump reportedly told Netanyahu to “keep doing what you have to do” but added, “This has to end. We want it to end.”