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These Hostage Families Want to Fight in Gaza, Not Tel Aviv
(Wall Street Journal) Elliot Kaufman - Boaz Miran has waited 700 days to see his brother Omri, who was 46 when Hamas took him to Gaza as a hostage. But you won't find him at the hostage protests. He told the Journal's editorial board: "Hamas always tells the hostages to tell the people of Israel: 'Take to the streets. Go and demonstrate. Go and pressure your government. Go and make chaos in Israel.' And the Israeli people just go and do what Hamas asks them to do." Miran is part of the Tikva Forum, a smaller group of hostage families which has opposed the protests as well as the ransoms paid by Israel's government. His hope is that Israel will press forward militarily until the terrorists surrender all the hostages. I ask Miran why not take a partial deal which would release 10 living hostages, as Hamas has reportedly accepted. Miran replies, "This raises a moral question....Maybe it can be Omri, or maybe it can be another hostage. How do you choose?" Second, "if I agree to make a deal, it isn't free. Many soldiers will pay the bill with their lives, because more terrorists will be released and Hamas will gain more power. In the end, Israel will need to go back and fight in Gaza and more Israelis will be kidnapped by Hamas in the future." "What we need to do is apply as much military pressure as possible on Hamas and make it surrender. This is the way to bring back all the hostages." The terrorists have always had a security blanket, knowing they can toss Israel a few hostages, or even their bones, and regroup. By playing along, Israelis allow their country to be held hostage too. The writer is a member of the Journal's editorial board.