‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven,” reads Ecclesiastes. “A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.’
When it comes to the hostages and the possibility of a deal to bring home at least some of the 100 people held by Hamas for 440 days, this is the time for silence.
Amid intense speculation about how close the sides are to a deal, about how it is just a matter of days and how it will materialize before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, everyone involved should just not speak.
Neither American officials should speak publicly about the issue, nor Israelis. Not White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby nor Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Their saying the deal is as close as ever may be well-intentioned – it may want to give some comfort to the family members of the hostages – but it could have the opposite effect: raising false hopes and expectations.
We have been there before.
On January 24, this was the headline of a New York Times article: “Negotiators Close In on Hostage Deal That Would Halt Fighting in Gaza for Weeks.”
On May 7, Reuters ran this as its headline: “US Believes Israel, Hamas Can Close Gaps on Hostage Deal.” And on August 17, the BBC ran this headline: “Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal closer than ever, Biden says.”
Each time, however, the hopes failed to materialize. There have been numerous times during this heartbreaking saga when various officials have said that a deal was just around the corner, only for that corner to suddenly disappear.
It’s not over until it’s over
This is a textbook case of something not being over until it is over. And until it is over, everyone should be quiet. Irresponsible chatter doesn’t help the negotiations and only misguides the public and cultivates false hopes.
In negotiations such as these, excessive publicity can undermine talks in a delicate stage. Public declarations can embolden Hamas to demand more or – again – withdraw entirely, knowing the government is facing mounting pressure to deliver. Silence, in this context, is not weakness; it is good strategy.
That rule of silence does not apply to the family of the hostages, who need to speak out to keep the issue on the agenda, ensure it remains a top priority, and make sure the fate of their loved ones is not the same as that of Ron Arad. Arad was the airman whose plane exploded over Lebanon in 1986, was taken prisoner, and never heard from again – with the government telling the family that staying quiet would be the best way to expedite his release.
Nevertheless, even the words of the family members of the hostages need to be weighed carefully. There is an understandable tendency to give the families wide berth to say whatever they want, and in whatever tone they deem fit, about the country and its leaders. It is right not to sit in judgment of those in whose shoes we do not walk.
Nevertheless, some of the recent comments by some relatives of the hostages, such as saying the government is abandoning the hostages or these words yelled at MK Ze’ev Elkin in the Knesset – “If my son comes back in a body bag or as body parts, I won’t bring you to trial, I will take the law into my own hands” – are counterproductive.
The families’ voices are vital, but so is discretion. Reckless accusations risk alienating potential allies in the government and the public, whose support is essential to keeping the hostages’ plight at the forefront of the national consciousness.
First of all, the state has been fighting a war for more than 14 months in an effort to free the hostages. Hundreds of soldiers have died and thousands have been wounded in the effort. So to say the state has abandoned the hostages is off-key.
Secondly, the super-strident rhetoric distances people from this very just cause rather than bringing them closer to it.
The families’ anguish is undeniable, and their voices must remain part of the national conversation. But unnecessary or unmeasured words, whether from officials or loved ones, risk complicating an already very delicate and precarious process.
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