Gantz: to return hostages, we must accept the release of terrorists

Minister and member of the War Cabinet Benny Gantz from the State Camp bloc commented on May 5 on the negotiations for the release of the hostages. Speaking at the opening of events in honor of the Day of the Holocaust and the heroism of the Jewish people in Kibbutz Tel Yitzhak, he said: “The return of our brothers and sisters from captivity requires us to overcome the anger associated with the release of terrorists and the postponement of war, it is this spiritual strength that allows us to overcome instincts for the sake of the spirit of our people.”

Gantz’s speech took place against the backdrop of the cessation of negotiations on an exchange deal in Cairo and reports that CIA chief William Burns urgently flew to Qatar “to save the negotiations that were sliding into the abyss.”

Ganz went on to share what he learned from Rabbi Benny Lau. The rabbi wrote that “for hundreds of years of exile, the Jews could not test and test their courage. The right to stand and fight was taken from them throughout the diaspora, but no one can deprive us of the heroism inherent in our hearts.”

“My mother Malka, a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen camp, told us that even when her body, weighing less than 30 kg, almost ceased to exist, her spirit continued to remain strong,” Ganz continued. “That’s how we survived. During the Holocaust, we as individuals and as a nation, we have overcome despair and horror. Our sages say that a hero is one who conquers his passion. Faced with Nazism, hunger, loss and the smell of death from gas furnaces, our people survived these trials with the strength of their spirit. to live as individuals and as a people. Children jumped out of the trains and fled under the barrage of fire to freedom. The adults shared a piece of bread, although the hunger ate them from the inside. The heroes who survived fought and came to Israel to fight again for the restoration of their people.”

“After October 7, I spoke with hundreds who went through the hell of a massacre. The phrase ‘a second Holocaust’ was heard more than once. And these stories were again stories of heroism. Little children who lay in a protected room and conquered fear. Soldiers, police officers and military personnel security, rescuers or civilians who fought with resourcefulness and courage, who saved hundreds of people under fire. Young people who covered grenades with their bodies and fought terrorists with their bare hands. People who took responsibility for others and sacrificed their lives.”

“October 7 reminded us that heroism lies not only in military strength, but above all in the soul of an individual and an entire nation,” Gantz concluded. “Our enemies sought to destroy, intimidate and separate us, but in the end they made us more united and determined . Now such heroism is also required of us to save as many souls as possible. To preserve mutual responsibility and the commandment of ransoming captives, our future is reflected in years and generations, and not in the achievements of days or weeks.”

Let us remind you that on the evening of May 5, an official ceremony is taking place at the Yad Vashem memorial complex in honor of the beginning of the Day of the Catastrophe and Heroism.