Israel needs to stop paying ransom to terrorists

Since the creation of the State of Israel, its policy has been no man left behind. Even such uneven exchanges as hundreds of live terrorists for dead IDF soldiers, or a thousand terrorists for one Jew, is viewed as a moral debt owed to draftees for risking their lives in service of their country.

Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Israel’s recent hostage deal with Hamas a “sacred duty” for this very reason. But the desire to spare as many lives as possible has turned into an unsustainable practice whose costs outweigh its rewards. It’s time Israel put an end to paying ransom for hostages.

For the moment, the hostage deal has brought immense relief to an Israeli society that had spent seven weeks pressuring its government to prioritize the safe return of its citizens. From a human standpoint, it reinforced the high value Israel has always put on the sanctity of life. No price is too great to pay for Israelis who fall into enemy hands.

From a strategic standpoint, however, the deal is a blow to Israel’s front against Hamas and jeopardizes the future security of its people.

To be sure, I recognize the immense difficulty in choosing between the immediate good of freeing innocents and the long-run benefit of protecting additional lives from a similar fate. It is a dilemma I do not take lightly; perhaps I might even change my position if a loved one were to be taken hostage. Nevertheless, I believe that ending ransom exchanges now is the best way to ensure that Israel will not have to face such a decision in the future.

Over the long term, hostage deals put at risk many more innocent lives than they save. Among the Hamas prisoners released in recent exchanges are dozens convicted of acts of terrorism against Israelis. Any one of them is now free to commit additional terrorist atrocities, the deathly costs of which would likely undermine the moral considerations behind rescuing a few hostages.

Israel has a sorry history of releasing prisoners who then returned to inflict more violence. This includes Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the Oct. 7 massacre, who had been part of the 1,027 prisoners released by Israel in 2011 for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. It is worth noting that this came after Israeli doctors performed a life-saving surgery on Sinwar after discovering a brain tumor as he was serving time.

Before Sinwar, many of the key figures behind the first Intifada were freed under the 1985 Jibril agreement, in which Israel released 1,150 prisoners in exchange for three Israeli soldiers captured by the PFLP during the First Lebanon War.  

Another substantial cost of hostage deals is that of precedent. Hamas leaders have openly admitted to using Israeli captives as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

When you reward bad behavior, that behavior is bound to happen again. This deal will continue to incentivize future hostage=taking, and not just by Hamas. Hezbollah is actually positioned all along Israel’s northern border in Lebanon, and they too have been doing training that looks much like Hamas’ preparation for the Oct. 7 attack.  

Beyond the long-term risks to Israeli civilians, hostage deals strengthen Hamas’ political standing. Up until the pause in fighting, Hamas was losing on the battlefield. The IDF had killed thousands of its militants, assassinated many of its leaders, and destroyed much of the infrastructure the organization depends on to carry out its activities. With more time to pursue its ground operation, Israel could have conceivably pounded Hamas with enough pressure to secure the release of at least some of the hostages, if not all of them. Instead, choosing to hand over the freedom of Palestinian prisoners has given Hamas a surge of support — both in Gaza and the West Bank — and an opportunity to parade its credentials as the rightful leader of the Palestinian resistance movement. 

After Oct. 7, it seemed as if Israel’s logic around hostage exchanges had been done away with. Its operational goal of eliminating this barbaric, unremitting terrorist organization would be inseparable from its effort to demand the unconditional release of all hostages. And yet, this deal has drawn Israel back to old habits that allow such massacres to happen.

While Israel rightly rejoices at the hostages’ return, only the prioritization of Hamas’ decisive defeat will ensure that it is no longer a threat to the nation or its people. Deals with Hamas will only continue to make Israel a hostage to its enemies.

That’s not how wars are won. 

Sahar Soleimany is a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on the Middle East.