More than 200 rabbis and religious leaders across all Jewish denominations signed a petition Sunday demanding that the government return the hostages “immediately, even if it means stopping the fighting right away.”
“Our ears are attentive to the cries of the hostages and their families, who are suffering the torments of hell. We will not stand by our neighbors’ blood. The supreme value of the sanctity of life requires focusing all efforts on reaching an agreement for the release and return of all hostages from Gaza,” the statement read.
They demanded that saving lives be placed as the highest national priority, even at the cost of an immediate halt to the fighting.
“Our demand stems from deep concern for the cohesion of Israeli society and its ability to rehabilitate if the return of the hostages is not placed at the top of the priority list. As religious and community leaders, our demand is: Bring back the hostages now, even at the cost of ceasing combat.”
The initiators of the letter were rabbis Avi Dabush, Eyal Yeshfe, Ayala Ronen Samuels, Natalie Lesterger, and Sagit Or.
Among the signatories were rabbis Avidan Friedman, Avital Hochstein, Oren Yehi-Shalom, Elhanan Danino, Devorah Evron, Dalia Marx, Daniel Hartman, Chaya Rowan Baker, Lea Shakdiel, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Ronen Lubitch, and Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, and scholar Haviva Pedaya.
The negotiations with Hamas
A Hamas official reportedly told AFP that the terror group had expressed its willingness to reach an agreement to end the war, which would include a one-time release of all the remaining hostages in exchange for a five-year ceasefire.
The source in the report noted that “Hamas is ready for a one-time prisoner exchange for a five-year cessation of hostilities” as a delegation from the organization departed for Cairo for meetings with Egyptian officials on Saturday.