Good morning from a different Israel,
Something feels lighter in the air today. It’s been this way since I landed yesterday and probably started Wednesday evening when Trump announced a deal had been reached to release all remaining hostages and end the war. Israelis managed to not get their hopes up for about 30 seconds, but the joy in the faces of the hostage families – a light we had never seen before – was too infectious. If I could describe the mood here, I’d say it’s a cautious euphoria. Then again, contradictions are nothing new to us.
The almost-24-hour newsrooms are posting “highlight reels” of the war, coupled with hopeful,l yet not-quite-upbeat ballads like Arik Einstein’s “A song that comes after the war ”. The mood is of graduation, and end of an era, wrap-up. The news panels are full of the usual crowd of retired generals, politicians, and journalists are discussing the sustainability of the agreement, the uncertain future, the tenuous political landscape, and other things that we can worry about…tomorrow.
For now, we wait. There’s something so special about moving through the streets here and knowing that every single person you interact with - from your family to the cashier at the supermarket – is going through the exact same thing. Every conversation ends with something like “hopefully by the next time I see you…” or “let’s hope tomorrow we’ll get some good news”.
Yesterday at hostage square in Tel Aviv (rumored to soon be renamed “returning square” – it sounds better in Hebrew), I stood in a line of strangers waiting to hug Dani Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran. He was beaming. I said something about miracles and he corrected me: “I don’t believe in miracles. I believe in the power of our people”.
Later that evening, 100,000 of us people gathered to support the hostage families and hear Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump address the crowd. People carried American flags and signs that read “Thank you President Trump” and “End this f*cking war”, a nod to an allegedly tense conversations between Trump and Netanyahu. There were cheers at every mention of Trump’s name, and Boos at mentions of Netanyahu. Loud cheers when Jared Kushner mentioned peace for the people of Gaza as well, and even louder cheers when he thanked the IDF.
If you’ve only been following the conflict through the black and white lens of social media, these seem like huge contradictions, but they make absolute perfect sense here. 66% of Israelis want the war to end, but do not confuse them for pacifists or allies of the groveling, frankly pathetic global left. It is not kumbaya and hand-holding we yearn for. We want peace because the only other option in the Middle East is war.
When I posted something along these lines on X, I got some pushback from people who reminded me that it’s hard to make peace with those who vow to slaughter the Jew when he hides behind the stones and the trees. But peace is made with enemies, not friends, and in reality it looks very different than the one starry-eyed college students in the west envision. Here in the Middle East It means the enemy is deterred, and soldiers can go back to their lives, their jobs and their families. It means normalcy and life, and that is what we cherish above all.
I will write more in the coming days, but hopefully, by the next time we speak…
Making the rounds on Israeli WhatsApp:
An old, old song, a song of soldiers
Returning after the battle
A song of a beloved, waiting for you—
Someone sang it before This is a song after the war… This is a song after the war
It always reminds me of hope
She’s waiting, the beloved is coming back
This is a song that comes after the war He writes a letter, she replies with three
That’s how it always goes
He sends a song, she wipes a tear—
Someone sang it before This is a song after the war… The whole street comes out, throwing flowers
How wonderful that peace has come
Here they return, may they be healthy—
Someone sang it before This is a song after the war… An old, old song, a song of soldiers
Returning after the battle
(with apologies to friend of the pod
for the minor key)
