Last weekend, Hamas released another psychological warfare video in which the young women whose well-being we care so much about were seen. I usually try to avoid watching those videos, but this time I felt I had to find out how they were doing and if they were okay, to try to look them directly in the eyes. The answer came all too soon.
Yamit, the mother of one of the hostages, said with heartbreaking simplicity, “You see her alive, but her eyes say everything.”
Last week, we took to the streets calling for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal now, and this week we will go out again with great force. This does not mean that I think our mission to topple the Hamas regime is over.
Hamas’s demands stem from a desperate need for some sense of control. And why would they feel otherwise, when the prime minister decides not to decide?
The humanitarian aid directed to Gaza goes through Hamas, which continues to have sole control over the distribution of aid to the residents. Why would Hamas feel that it is losing control? Israel hands Hamas the keys to Gaza time and time again.
Without leadership, chaos fills the vacuum
Rather than participating in a real discussion about the “day after” the war, which is already happening now, certain government members are signaling extremist elements to start a campaign to establish communities and re-settle in Gaza. The majority of the public is not interested in this, and the prime minister and the defense minister have said that this is not an option.
However, when you insist on not making a decision, not showing leadership, chaos takes its place. This government was elected to restore “control.” Under its leadership, we lost control in the Western Negev and the North of the country.
At the time of writing, talks of a deal are intensifying. We deserve to have all the hostages home now. This is the first step in taking back the reins.
Another step is to make progress in overthrowing the Hamas regime. Hamas is not interested in the number of dead civilians in the Gaza Strip or the severity of the humanitarian crisis. For the terror organization, these are fuel for their global propaganda campaign and an engine for raising funds.
Hamas cares about its power – and the heads of the political branch care a lot about the comforts of their lavish lifestyles in the various capitals of the Arab world and in general. A significant blow will be the destruction of their organizational and personal financial pipeline.
The State of Israel needs to flex its political muscle as well, and not just its military power. The opportunities are right there in front of us.
Iran, for example, is responsible for the most extensive oppression of women in modern history, as we all know. The Iranian prisoner who won the Nobel Prize for 2023, Narges Mohammadi, published a letter from her prison cell in Iran to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in which she demands that he recognize the gender apartheid that exists in Iran.
This is an opportunity. The State of Israel must promote a political move to uncover the lie that is the Iranian regime’s legitimacy and along the way will also be able to do justice to millions of women who have been scorned, humiliated, and erased under the masculine and powerful Ayatollah regime. This move would mark a line of demarcation according to which a country that oppresses women to such an extent does not get a seat in the UN building, which, until October 7, was considered respectable.
As a descendant of an Afghan Persian family, I will see justice for Israel and justice for women in such a move.
The writer is the founder of Women Building an Alternative (Bonot Alternativa), a women’s rights social activist organization that seeks to promote social equality, empower women, and raise awareness of violence against women.