The conclusion of the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal has many looking anxiously to the release of the remaining living hostages and the bodies of those killed in captivity. Sources in Israel believe that 24 hostages are still alive in the Gaza Strip, including 22 Israelis, one Thai and one Nepali.

In a significant escalation of protests, thousands of demonstrators have surrounded the Kirya, Israel's Ministry of Defense compound and IDF headquarters, demanding the immediate release of all hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. In what they named "Operation Kirya Envelope", the protesters established encampments last night next to each gate of the Kirya, following the massive nationwide demonstration in which Israelis took to the streets in a plea to bring their loved ones home without further delays, partial deals, or drawn-out negotiations.

Meanwhile #qatargate continues in full force, with Netanyahu aides reportedly suspected of recently receiving six-figure sums from Qatar. Investigators say they were surprised by the size of the payouts, amounting to hundreds of thousands allegedly paid through outside firms.

42 days after it began, the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza has come to an end, with 59 hostages remaining in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Of those that remain — based on intelligence — the IDF has concluded that at least 34 of the remaining hostages are dead.

One of the stories we want to make sure you don’t miss is the interview of freed hostage Eli Sharabi, who spoke in a no holds barred interview this week. As it turns out, one of the people who watched at least some of that interview was none other than President Trump, who invited Sharabi and other former hostages to Washington to hear their stories.

Sharon Sharabi, Eli’s brother, says the US president decided to invite former hostages after being sent the interview in which the bereaved Be’eri father describes torture in captivity. Eli Sharabi, who lost his wife and daughters on Oct. 7; Omer Shem Tov, released from captivity last Saturday; Iair Horn, whose farewell with his captive brother filmed by Hamas; and Aviva and Keith Siegel, whose video shared by US president, will travel to Washington to meet with the US President.

And this week, our worst fears have been realized with the return of the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two little red-headed boys Ariel and Kfir. The return of the Bibas family dashed the hopes of anyone praying for the safe return of the Bibas family, a few weeks after her husband, Yarden Bibas, was returned to Israel as a shell of himself.

As if the occasion marking the end of hopes for the four hostages wasn’t distressful enough, on February 20 Hamas conducted a macabre ceremony in Gaza to release the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. The event took place in Bani Suhaila, near Khan Younis, where Hamas unveiled black-draped coffins adorned with photographs of the victims and inscriptions marking their "date of arrest" as October 7, 2023 — the day they were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The question remains: what happens now to the remaining hostages?

This week marks 500 days since the October 7 attack by Hamas. 500 days during which Israel has been at war. 500 days that hostages remain in the hands of Hamas, starved, tortured, chained, beaten, in constant fear that today will be their last day.

So far, in the tortuous reality show staged by Hamas, 19 Israelis (and five Thai hostages not part of the 33) have walked to freedom, handed over in ceremonies designed to further humiliate the women and men being held by these non-humans.

What will this week bring next for the hostages and the country? We also don't want to forget the shameful displays of antisemitism on display in Australia and elsewhere, but also to highlight and thank today's "The Righteous Among the Nations" for their continued and dedicated towards Israel and Jews throughout the world.

This week saw the release of the three hostages — Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34 — who were led from the clutches of Hamas and transferred to the vehicles of the International Red Cross. Grey, emaciated, and frail-looking, the three men were an immediate reminder of something we never believed we would see again - Holocaust camp survivors.

Now the question is how do we ensure that the rest of the hostages are released, and that Bibi and his government don't try to stop their release before it's too late?

79 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity; three captives will be returned in the next three releases, after which 11 more will be freed in the final day of the ceasefire's Phase One

These last few days in Israel have been a whirlwind of joy, hope, and despair. 18 hostages have been released since the ceasefire went into effect (including 5 Thai citizens, held by Hamas for no other crime than working the fields of the kibbutzim where they were captured), including nearly all of the women and two of the oldest hostages. As we celebrate their releases, each hostages helps to bring us closer to the endpoint. But then, their horrifical stories emerge, the constant threat of death and violence they faced daily, and the fear that they would never return.

Add to that the disgusting show of “strength” by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad during the releases, and you can understand what it’s very hard to remain positive despite the release of these true heroes.

And, of course, there is no clear information as to the fate of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the little red-headed boys taken on October 7, and the release of Yarden Bibas, the father, only highlights this terrible unknown. Who is still alive and who is not? The names of those that will be released by the end of this first phase is known, but not whether they are alive or dead. And so we wait, and pray together with the families of the hostages.

The hostages are coming home. Three-at-time. Four-at-time… Every day brings news of those who are finally being released from Hamas hell and captivity, but every day, another family sees their hope die, as their loved one remains in captivity. Last week saw the release of Romi, Emily, and Doron. This week we saw four brave female soldiers, paraded by Hamas like trophies, finally released back to Israel. But with that release Hamas reneged on the agreement to release all civilian women first (Arbel Yehud, Shiri Bibas) and a full list of those being released.

And so, Israel refused to allow the Palestinians back into northern Gaza until Hamas agreed to meet the terms. Then, finally, the announcement that Arbel, Agam Berger (another female soldier) and third, unnamed hostage (possibly American-Israeli Keith Siegel), would be released as early as this Thursday.

This lack of clarity and uncertainty has created a tension so intense in Israel you can feel it in the air.

Romi, Doron and Emily coming home and physically able to first meet with their families is great news! Getting Oron Shaul’s body back after over 10 years is also a relief. But we also know that the price of this “deal” is exorbitantly high.

The comparisons made in the press worldwide of a “prisoner exchange,” whereby innocent civilians kidnapped from their homes are equated with hardened criminals, mass murders and rapists, sets a precedent that will probably justify and encourage future kidnappings elsewhere. And yet — we hope that the deal will continue until the last remaining hostage is released.

This week we’ve decided to highlight the difference between how both President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have put aside ego and narrow political interests to prioritize and save lives, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu prioritizes personal ego and political gain at the expense of his own citizens. Regardless of whether you prefer Biden or Trump, both deserve credit. We are all aware of Donald Trump’s ego and Biden’s current desire to leave a positive legacy, but both have chosen to work together, putting aside personal egos and political differences, and agreeing to share credit to push a hostage deal over the finish line before Trump takes office.

The fact that Trump's representative, Steve Witkoff, is present alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the negotiations is both unusual and important. Witkoff’s presence ensures that promises (and threats) made by the current administration represent promises of both administrations. Prioritizing substance over ego also sends a strong signal to Bibi, his political allies, Hamas, Iran, Turkey, Qatar and all other countries in the region where Hamas leaders are welcome or may seek safe haven.  

On the Israeli side, soldiers are risking their lives every day to try and find save their fellow citizens held in captivity; and all, but a small minority made up primarily of political hacks and messianic nut-jobs, are doing whatever they can to keep the hostage issue front and center. But Bibi and the members of his democratically elected coalition are doing all they can to shift the blame for their failure and to stay in power until they succeed.

In the meantime, the coalition is raiding the Israeli treasury to provide jobs to friends and supporters; increasing the national debt over and above the needs of war and reconstruction; systematically dismantling every competing source of power regardless of the consequences; and doing everything in their power to fragment the population into competing groups.

These are serious accusations that we are making, but we are not the only the only ones who see this. We hear it daily in the streets from people on all sides of the political divide - Jewish-Israelis, Arab-Israelis and Druze-Israelis. We hear it from people who are totally secular, religious Jews (the so-called knitted-kippot/yarmulkes), and even ultra-orthodox Haredi.

This week we focus on the video with signs of life from Liri Albag, 19, one of the 100 hostages being held in Gaza that Hamas released over the weekend. We then summarize the additional events of the past week like the possible end of UNRWA operations, the latest corruption scandal in Israel, the continued spread of antisemitism worldwide, and an organized attempt to terrorize young Israelis who served in the IDF traveling overseas that could easily spread to young Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The video shows Liri, 19, in what appears to be some kind of military uniform, her eyes gaunt and haunted, and her mental state apparent.

“This is not the Liri we know” her parents said about the video of their daughter, and said her “difficult mental state is evident” as it appears in the three-and-a-half-minute video, where she appeals to government to work on hostage deal “as if your children were there”.

The timing of the three-and-a-half-minute-long video is not accidental; the video was not dated, although Liri stated in it that she has been held for over 450 days, which indicates that the video that it was filmed recently.

Albag, a surveillance soldier, was stationed at the Nahal Oz military base close to the Gaza border when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists poured into Israel from the Palestinian enclave. Fifteen surveillance soldiers were killed in the onslaught, and Albag was abducted to Gaza along with six others.

There doesn’t appear to be any movement in the negotiations to free hostages being held by Hamas - now 450 days! So this week we focus on a new report presented to the United Nations documenting the conditions of those that were being held, released, and subsequently treated in Israel. We have a call to action that is simple - but might take you out of your comfort zone.

Anyone tuning into the Israeli investigative and current affairs television program, Uvda (meaning "Fact") last week could be forgiven for thinking they'd inadvertently tuned into a Francis Ford Coppola movie: a mob family led by a man and his wife with enormous power and influence turning a small country into their own little kingdom/mafia territory.

But it wasn't a movie. The expose of the Netanyahus — plural, that's correct — revealed a secret network that operated out of Balfour Street in Jerusalem (the official residence of the prime minister), where a multi-armed octopus was activated in an almost limitless manner and targeted political opponents. The network also included a a close connection to a senior police officer, who would later also become the Police Commissioner.

And now, dozens are said to have filed complaints against Sara Netanyahu after the report alleging dirty deeds; in addition, an opposition MK and a good governance group are urging an official probe after the TV report said PM’s wife sought to intimidate witness in Netanyahu's trial, and organize protests against rivals.

This week reminds us of Howard Cosell’s most famous quote in reverse. Rather than “snatching a strategic victory from the jaws of the Oct. 7 defeat”, our political leaders are busy “snatching strategic defeat from the jaws of military victories”.

To be absolutely clear, on Oct. 7 Israel suffered its greatest defeat and the wars in Gaza and Lebanon can never truly be considered a victory. We would gladly have avoided it all; and if we could turn back the clock we would prevent it from happening.  But it did happen and the IDF has since had amazing victories on the battlefield that have effectively removed many of the most dangerous threats against Israel (and the world as a whole). While we credit our brave soldiers who paid, and continue to pay, a heavy price; we believe that it could have ended sooner if our political leaders were more focused on the needs of the country rather than their own narrow political interests.

This week, rather than build on the unity of the soldiers in the field and strengthen Israel, the coalition government has focused its energy on bringing back divisive legislation that threatens to cause Israel to implode. Is this an exaggeration? Maybe, but based on the internal turmoil of the 10 months that preceded Oct. 7 - this apocalyptic scenario is quite real.

Many (possibly most) Israelis are truly scared that Israel is on the path to something closer to a dictatorship or monarchy that rules over its subjects than a democracy that serves its citizens. To be fair, some of those who support the “judicial reforms” fear that our Supreme Court has overstepped its authority to the point of preventing an elected government from governing. The fear of judicial overreach is not totally without basis; for years the Court itself has tried to return issues to the Knesset rather than make rulings.

Unlike the United States, Israel does not have a written constitution, a true separation of powers, or term limits on the Prime Minister. In Israel, the Executive Branch effectively controls the Legislative Branch and the only independent sources of power are the Judicial Branch and the Civil Service. After nearly 15 years in office (with a short 1 1/2 year interlude), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to destroy much of the independence of the top Civil Servants by appointing mediocre people who are afraid or unable to stand up to him. Leaders of both the military and other security services who did not subscribe to his “conception” that Hamas could be bought off were not promoted - and all signs to the contrary were ignored until Oct. 7, 2023.

This week we focus on the continued rise in antisemitism worldwide, especially in western countries like the U.K., Europe, the United States, Australia and at the United Nations. Not that life in Israel has returned to normal - it hasn’t.

Despite today’s reports of a breakthrough in negotiations for the release of some of the hostages, we fear that our Prime Minister is still more concerned about the fate of his coalition than of hostages suffering (according to reports in the Hebrew press, a Qatari newspaper claimed that Hamas issued a list of hostages that they are willing to include in the first stage of a deal in return for a list of prisoners that Israel is willing to release in exchange. The Hamas list reportedly includes 4 American citizens who do not meet their “humanitarian criteria”). While the news in Syria is probably the most dramatic event of this week - we don’t yet have any insights to share that are any better than what you are seeing on the news.

On the other hand, you might enjoy reading the The Israeli Theater of the Absurd section  which includes Netanyahu’s attempts to delay taking the stand as a defendant where we think he treats Trump as his Patsy. And of course - it is important that you read the 100 Hostages section.

In any case, this week we’ve compiled a number of incidents around the world that we think show a dangerous pattern of organized antisemitism similar to what led to the rise of Nazi Germany as opposed to a series of isolated incidents.

It may be easier to just blame Prime Minister Netanyahu or a few of his more outrageous coalition members, but the truth is that our leadership failure goes far deeper. In 1976, the American Bicentennial celebrations took precedence over the fate of the remaining Americans being held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda, such as Janet Almog, after all the non-Jewish Americans had been released, it was the tiny country of Israel who exhibited the leadership that the Ford Administration lacked in releasing the hostages.

Now, 48 years later, the personal involvement of both President Biden and President-elect Trump are exhibiting in their efforts to free the 101 hostages held in Gaza provide a sharp contrast to the total lack of interest that Israel’s political leadership show toward the fate of their own citizens. With the sole exception of recently fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, not a single minister or member of the ruling coalition have found the time to meet with as many members of the hostage families as these two foreign leader have.

Sometimes it feels as though there is nothing but bad news, and more bad news. Not the sweeping kind of October 7 bad news, but the ongoing, morale-dampening kind of news that never seems to end.

So, instead of giving into that feeling, we joined the Hostage Family Forum this Saturday evening in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv, where we heard the prayers rising from the hav’dalah service (prayer ending the Sabbath) of the Reform Movement, alongside the sing-along held every Saturday in the square. And we listened to the heartbreaking speech twin sermons by the parents of slain hostage Hersh give twin sermons at Tel Aviv rally: ‘We’ve lost too many cherished souls’.

This issue we'll talk about the hostages - and what's happened to the hostage deal; the Israeli coalition government and its latest shenanigans; the ICJ decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant; and of course, what's happening on the antisemitism front.

No, the war is from over, but last week, the new Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, claimed that Israel has already defeated Hezbollah. You could have fooled us, with the hundreds of rockets and drones being fired from Lebanon into Israel every day. And the soldiers and civilians who have died since Katz made his announcement (Nov 10th).

But that hasn’t stopped the government under Netanyahu from trying to continue business as usual, passing laws that would transfer funds to the ultra Orthodox who refuse to serve in the military (or do do any kind of national service). Or from trying to continue the upheavals to the legal system in Israel, threatening the Knesset’s ombudsman, and the list just goes on.

So we’re fighting back - kind of - by letting you know that you can now see the film Bibi doesn’t want you to see (The Bibi Files)!

And of course, we’ll keep you posted in this issue on the latest in the spy scandal in Netanyahu’s inner circle, updates on the hostages, and a discussion of what the next Trump administration could mean for Jews in the United States.

Israelis may have been the target of the Oct. 7 massacre, but it has set off a chain of events that continue to spread worldwide with no hope of ending until the hostages in Gaza return home.

Over the past week, while most of you have been focused on the results of the presidential election, Israelis have been focused on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s mismanagement of the war and the side effects of his failure to focus on freeing the hostages. Despite all of the IDF’s successes on the battlefield in Gaza and Lebanon - we are no closer to bringing home the 101 hostages than we were last week and the same can be said about the return of the evacuees from northern Israel. Antisemitism driven by the “Free Palestine” movement continues to grow more violent and reminiscent of the right wing antisemitism that swept Europe in the 1930s.

This week we've decided to focus on two developing spy scandals in Israel. While we don't yet know whether they would make for good spy novels or comedy routines - they are both real and serious. The first one, which began appearing in the Israeli news a few weeks ago, concerns Israelis that Iran succeeded in getting to betray Israel in return for money. So far, none of the spies uncovered were high level or well connected, but there are signs of a massive effort by Iran to entice Israelis - often using fake profiles in social media or criminal contacts.  

Over the past week Bibi and Biden appear to have joined forces against Israel’s opposition parties, each for their own reasons. While Biden may not like Bibi, and Bibi may be rooting for Trump - this week’s events have shown that politics can indeed create strange bedfellows. In this issue, we will look at the three most important issues facing Israel this week and explain how U.S. President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister have found themselves working hand-in-hand against the Israel’s opposition parties in order to advance the political interests of the Biden-Harris administration on one hand and of Bibi and his extremist coalition on the other.