Over the next few weeks, there will be a familiar round of psychological warfare over the release of the 130 Israelis who have been kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip. The terrorists know exactly what they’re doing when they publish heart-rending videos of children in their mothers’ arms, of beautiful young people and proud elderly – all of whom are being led into the depths of the Gaza Strip.

Recognizing the initial government inaction during the crisis, the families of the abducted Israelis swiftly understood the importance of enlisting the expertise of former defense officials, legal experts, and diplomats to provide guidance and leadership in shaping the Israeli response.

Among them are two figures with experience in exactly this field: David Meidan, a former Mossad commander who, as director of the government office for MIAs and kidnapped Israelis, played a key role in securing the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit; and Shimshon Liebman, who headed the public campaign for Shalit’s release. In addition, there are around 10 more professionals, including Uri Slonim, who coordinated Israel’s MIA efforts for many years; former Shin Bet chief Jacob Perry; Raz Nazri, a former deputy attorney general; Dan Eldad, the former director of the State Attorney’s Financial Division; and media adviser Rosen Tzur.

The forum’s goal is to provide a solution for what the failed government is unable to provide. The government's decision to appoint retired IDF General Gal Hirsch to the position of coordinator for MIAs and kidnapped Israelis – a position that has been vacant since Yaron Bloom resigned a year ago – was also met with criticism. Hirsch, who left the IDF in 2006 over his involvement in the failings that led to the kidnapping of soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, does not speak Arabic and is not an expert in either Arab affairs or sensitive negotiations. He is, however, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.

Shimshon Liebman: “Their anger is because no one is talking to them. The government did not even organize a small group of low-ranking officers to call each family for a preliminary conversation."

“In previous deals,” Meidan says in an interview with Shomrim, “I thought that it was right to do everything in one fell swoop, otherwise the price would go up for each part of the deal. In this case, we have no choice but to do a very quick deal to secure the release of the infants, the children, the mothers and the grandmothers. I believe that it will be a price that Israel can afford to pay and that it will work on a humanitarian basis.”

Won’t securing the release of some of the hostages only polarize the families?

“What can the family of a soldier say if we manage to secure a baby’s release? That we’re doing the wrong thing? A lot depends on how it’s presented. It might even give hope to anyone whose loved one is left behind, proof that they are releasing people. It will also be hard logistically for Hamas to look after the elderly and babies. It’s not easy to care for an 85-year-old woman. You might say that they will simply murder her; but everyone saw them kidnap her, so it’s a problem.”

Do they care? They don’t exactly occupy the moral high ground.

“It is true that they do not care about their moral image; they could even claim that these people were killed in IDF bombings. But they still hope to get something in exchange for them and looking after them means extra logistics for them. If there’s a deal and they can secure the release of sick Palestinian prisoners, then why not. I believe that something in that direction is being cooked up, because it’s been three days since then.”

There was a report that they would release the women, children and elderly in exchange for female prisoners.

“And Israel denied that. I don’t know what the truth is. The government has the authority and I still do not know what direction it plans on taking and whether Netanyahu even has a policy on the matter. Hamas invests heavily in psychological warfare, and we will experience a lot of that along the way, when there will be reports about stalled negotiations. Hamas will claim that Israel has decided to abandon its kidnapped nations in an affront to foster distrust between the families and the government.”

What are the main channels in such negotiations?

“The three countries which have some influence over Hamas are Qatar, which sends it money; Egypt, without which Hamas officials would never be able to leave Gaza; and Turkey, which is where Hamas’ leaders reside. Their children study there, their families work there. These are the three countries that Hamas listens to. Also, we have to put our efforts into those three leverages. I am certain that it will happen on the Egyptian axis and we must keep close tabs on it.”

Will the team you got together work on that?

“I am also on a 20-member team of people that is helping the family of Avera Mengistu, along with former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, businessmen Orni Petrescu and Chemi Peres, Tammy Arad and all of the members of Ron Arad’s squadron. We have spoken to world leaders and ambassadors about the matter and when the family was invited to the United Nations, one of us accompanied them. This time, too, we will need to be in those places.”

Will the Red Cross become involved?

“Gilad Shalit was held in captivity for five years and he did not see a single Red Cross representative. Not even once. 

Do you share the belief that the price of the prisoner exchange will go up if the families talk publicly?

“For now, the world is on our side because of these images. I am not in favor of hiding them. Showing that [the terrorists] are animals is in our interests. The families must put pressure on the government. They have to talk to the media and cry and force the government to understand that they will go on hunger strike outside Bibi’s office if necessary and that they aren’t going to give up. Of course, then there will be messages from official sources, asking them to keep a low profile so that the government enjoys some quiet. They must pay no heed to these suggestions; they have to keep making noise constantly.

“During the negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit, I told his parents, Aviva and Noam, that their demonstrations were not making my work directing negotiations any easier, but that I supported their right to demonstrate and told them I will have to work even harder.”

What do you think about the appointment of Gal Hirsch?

“I don’t know him very well, so I will speak cautiously. It is true that he does not have any experience, that he has no training in international relations with Arab states and with leaders from the Arab world. Under normal conditions, he would have a few months to learn the role, but now the situation is so critical that this is not the time for training. But he is also wearing a second hat: he has to be attentive to the families. I get. the impression he is empathetic and that, in that respect, everything will be fine.”

“In previous deals,” Meidan says, “I thought that it was right to do everything in one fell swoop, otherwise the price would go up for each part of the deal. In this case, we have no choice but to do a very quick deal to secure the release of the infants, the children, the mothers and the grandmothers".

‘If it wasn’t Sinwar, it would be someone else’

Shimshon Liebman, who met with Meidan on Monday to kickstart the movement, says that he “will be responsible for creating awareness, for drumming up support and for spearheading activities.”

“I get the impression that a support group has already been created among the families and that together they have a kind of strength,” he says. “Their anger is because no one is talking to them. The government did not even organize a small group of low-ranking officers to call each family for a preliminary conversation. When I am asked to lecture about the campaign to free Gilad Shalit, which ended 12 years ago, I always say that the source of our strength is the value we attach to human life – and now we’re not even doing that.”

You were behind all of the campaigning and coordination for Gilad Shalit. What will be your role this time?

“For the time being, there is no street protest. We are working to ensure the issue remains on the decision-makers’ agenda, because we have found that in these situations, when energy comes from a desire for revenge and when the government and the army are failing, any campaign will be designed to restore national honor. These energies could lead to a marginalization of the hostage issue.”

Will the desire to flatten Gaza overcome the lives of the 130 Israelis being held hostage?

“You are asking me a question that comes from an ideological viewpoint that corresponds with mine, but I am not certain that these are the values which guide Israeli decision-makers. The campaign for the release of Gilad Shalit was a moral battle, not a battle for Gilad. It was over what kind of country we want to live in.”

"We are telling Netanyahu that he is the address, he is personally responsible for what happened. It’s his responsibility returning all the hostages home immediately."

‍Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in the Gaza Strip, was the most senior official released as part of the Shalit deal. What would you say to anyone who argues that this is exactly why Israel should not release any more security prisoners?

“If it weren’t Sinwar it would have been someone else. The murder in their eyes, the hatred and the understanding that they do not have anything to lose is the same for other people in Gaza. As long as there is no solution to the conflict, there will always be terrorist organizations and there will always be kidnappings, because that is their strength and our soft underbelly. 

Israeli citizens are being held captive. We are telling Netanyahu that he is the address, he is personally responsible for what happened. It’s his responsibility returning all the hostages home immediately. That is the message that the families must get across to the person who holds overall responsibility.”

What would you say to the common claim that the more noise the families make, the longer it will take for them to see their loved ones?

“I would say that we cannot rely on decision-makers to put the commitment to solidarity and the obligation not to abandon Israeli nationals at the top of the list of national priorities. That has been the case every time that Israelis have been taken hostage. It is true that we have to know when to be quiet and when to shout – but we cannot sit silently and do nothing.”

Hamas expects Israel to see the kidnapped civilian as ‘everybody’s children,’ as was the case with Gilad Shalit. Is it possible that, given the fully right-wing government that is currently in power, this will not happen?

“Any parent who sends their child into the army must be able to believe that the state is committed to their safety. To whom does the army give medals in war? To people who risked their lives to rescue comrades. We are now back to shared fates, after functioning as tribes; and now we have to fight for our lives. Our value system is being put to the test; what kind of country will we live in on the day after? I believe we will make the right choices.”

Someone else, who was also involved in the Shalit campaign, and wishes to stay anonymous, is rather more skeptical. “We are experiencing the flip side of the Shalit case. Hamas expected this to be a repeat of the Shalit case. They thought that they would kidnap Israelis and that we would cave in. I believe that it will not happen quickly - if at all. The State of Israel has implemented the Hannibal Directive on the whole of the Gaza Strip (since the current conflict erupted [CS]), based on the understanding that the moment we release prisoners, we are opening the door for countless more abductions.”

The Hannibal Directive is a classified IDF order, the full meaning of which is not known, which states that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers must be avoided at all costs, even if it means harming IDF’s own forces. It is worth noting that the directive deals with the case of the kidnapping of soldiers, not civilians as is the current situation [CS]. 

So, we’re just going to give up on those Israelis?

“You see it as abandoning the children, but if we pay the price, more children will find themselves in the same situation in the future. If photos of children ‘sell,’ after all they are published for a reason, because when they [Hamas] wanted to keep things quiet, they were able to do so, then the next time they’ll kidnap children again. That is always the dilemma when it comes to hostage negotiations. 

“I cannot rule out the possibility that the IDF will invade Gaza and abduct a large number of Hamas members [for prisoner swap (CS)]. In the end, I think that there will be a prisoner-exchange deal, the question is who will be exchanged for whom?”

“They must avoid making the same cardinal mistake that the Goldin family made, when they agreed to declare that Hagar was missing, presumed dead,” says Shenkman. “I hear some of the parents talking about their children in the past tense. We were talking to him and then we heard shots and the line was disconnected. No!"

MIA and hostages

Tammy Shenkman, who was in charge of communications for the Shalit campaign, is visibly upset when talking about the press conference held by families of the hostages two days ago. “The message that the families see the Israeli government as responsible for the fate of their loved ones did not come across. Representatives of families said that no government representative had talked to them, but they should have stated unequivocally that the government is responsible for ensuring that not one hair on their loved ones’ heads is missing”

Should they not also be making that demand from Hamas?

“The Israeli government is responsible for getting them back safely. Not Hamas. It is the government that should be telling us that Hamas is responsible, not the parents. The parents must focus on the government’s responsibility and on meeting with the point-person from the government as soon as possible. Not Gal Hirsch. They have to meet with the defense minister, who must provide them with answers and explanations, and with the welfare minister, who must support them.”

In this context, it is important to stress that there is a difference between the families of soldiers and those of civilians – and not only given that the huge disparity in numbers makes it hard to view them as a single collective. In the past, the families of civilian hostages complained that they were not being given the same support networks as the families of kidnapped soldiers, who are looked after by the IDF and the Defense Ministry. Because of the circumstance of the current crisis, the Defense Ministry is considering recognizing the families of the civilian abductees as if they were soldiers, in order to ensure that they get the same treatment and support. To do so, they will use the precedent that allows the state to recognize civilians as victims of enemy action.

In any case, for the time being the state should assume that all of the abductees and MIAs are alive. “They must avoid making the same cardinal mistake that the Goldin family made, when they agreed to declare that Hagar was missing, presumed dead,” says Shenkman. “I hear some of the parents talking about their children in the past tense. We were talking to him and then we heard shots and the line was disconnected. No! As far as they are concerned, the narrative must be: They took his phone from him, he obviously cannot talk, but he’s alive. Even if, God forbid, the most terrible thing of all happened, the narrative must be that they have been taken hostage and that they are alive. Because the minute that the public perception is that they are dead, getting them back will be even harder.”

And what happens if the public doesn’t buy it?

“Just look at how Karnit Goldwasser didn’t give up. Everyone knew that her husband had been killed, but she did not agree to that definition, she fought against it until the very last minute and got other people involved, too. Right up to the moment that the bodies of Goldwasser and Regev were repatriated, people had some hope that they would return alive. That’s the essence of a proper struggle. An image. A clear and simple message. Our child is alive and we want him back home”

“The families have to make sure that photographs of the hostages appear in the media, especially the international media. Some of them are worried that publishing photos will hurt their loved ones. That’s nonsense. These photographs will persuade the enemy of the importance of keeping the hostages alive and they won’t, God forbid, dispose of them. We need intense international pressure. Not just press conferences for the Israeli media. We have to demand that the United Nations and the European Union – and any international mediator, from Egypt to Germany or Russia – get involved and help.”