Joel Freedman

Real Estate Lawyer, JoelFreedmanLaw

[Josefine @josefine_wi]

This is my Congressman. He is incredibly unfit for office.

Please let me give you a quick introduction to him. 🧵

[Brianna Wu @BriannaWu]

It’s because they don’t really care about war crimes. They just hate Jews.

[Israel Defense Forces @IDF]

It should be pretty easy to spot the difference…

[Luai Ahmed @JustLuai]

In honor of Pride month, here is a list of all of the countries in the Middle East that recognize same sex marriage:

1. Israel

[Eylon Levy @EylonALevy]

Tonight, I am conflicted.

Overnight, Israel launched Operation Gideon's Chariots. It marks the latest, bloody phase of the war Hamas launched on October 7, 2023 with a barbaric massacre of Israeli civilians, an attack that triggered a regional war against the Jewish state on seven fronts.

The Israeli operation is intended to end the war with the defeat of the terrorist army that started the war. It has two goals: to pressure Hamas to free the hostages, and then to crush this enemy regime and its military.

I want this war to end, and so I want this operation to succeed. But tonight, I am conflicted. And before I explain why I'm conflicted, I'll explain why I'm sharing.

When Hamas declared war, I was not a spokesman for the Israeli Government. On the contrary. I was one of the many Israelis protesting against the Netanyahu government (the photo evidence would be my undoing). But then everything changed, we united as a country, and I put politics aside. The country needed cannon fodder in hostile interviews and I jumped on the grenade. Eventually Mrs. Netanyahu clocked that I was in the anti-government protests before the war and I was forced out. But that's another story.

I mention this to explain that not only do I not represent the government, I also owe nothing to this government (I have never even met Netanyahu, if you can believe it). I see my role now — as a private citizen — as not to defend the government's decisions, but to explain the impossible and agonizing dilemmas facing Israel. I don't care if you agree with this or that decision. I care that you understand the impossible situation we're in.

Right now, there are up to 23 living hostages rotting in the dungeons of Gaza, where they are being starved, tortured, and even sexually abused. There are also 35 bodies of hostages Hamas has already murdered, using as chips to torture their families. We need to get them all out. They could have been any one of us. It could have been me, or my friends. Families ripped out of their beds. Youngsters kidnapped from a music festival. Young conscript soldiers, seized from defensive posts.

Hamas is demanding a ransom for their release.

It is demanding the release of thousands of convicted terrorists and an end of the war, with international guarantees that it can remain in power. There is a horrific debate in Israel about whether we can afford this ransom. The Netanyahu government has decided we cannot. Many Israelis think we should pay it anyway, to save them. It is insane that we're having a debate about the price of our fellow citizens' lives, but Hamas is demanding a price, so we're forced to decide what it is.

Most of the hostages' families want the government to pay the ransom. It is a core, unshakable part of the Israeli ethos that we do not leave anyone behind. You don't abandon a wounded soldier in the field. And definitely not a civilian snatched from his bed. As they're saying in the rally tonight in Tel Aviv, "nothing else matters right now". Save them now, worry about the costs later. If someone in my family were abducted, I would demand the same. Nothing else matters. And if I were in power, I would probably pay the ransom (I would also order a state commission of inquiry, but that is another matter). We have been checkmated. We will never forgive ourselves if we fail to bring our fellow citizens. It will break our social contract. Hamas knows that, of course, and that's why it exploits our greatest strength, our sense of solidarity, as our Achilles' heel.

This ransom comes at a cost, and this point is worth hammering. The terrorists we release from jail WILL take hostages in future, because we are showing it works. There is a reason most countries don't pay ransoms to terrorist hostage-takers. We got soldier Gilad Shalit back for 1,000 terrorists in 2011; one of them was Yahya Sinwar. Hamas is demanding the hostage-takers of tomorrow for the hostages of today. And ending the war with Hamas in power means Hamas will remain in power and will rearm. Anyone telling you that ending the war with Hamas in power means it won't remain in power is not being entirely honest with you. Hamas is not going to disarm itself or resign voluntarily. Saudi Arabia isn't going to coax it to quit. And nobody is going to condition reconstruction aid on Hamas laying down its arms. In any case, Phase III of the original ransom deal would allow Hamas to hold onto the bodies of dead hostages anyway during reconstruction, guaranteeing that rebuilding will take place on its terms.

Leaving Hamas standing means it will rebuild its tunnels and its missile silos. And it will attack when it's ready. Because Hamas is a jihadi army whose stated purpose for existence is to wage war until Israel is destroyed. There's no such thing as a "permanent ceasefire". If this is not the last Gaza war, there will be a next Gaza war, and it will be worse. Why? Because Hamas will conclude the world will keep saving it from the wars it starts. Because its human shield strategy will be vindicated. Because it will take hostages again, knowing this is our Achilles' heel. And we want this to be the last Gaza war, because we're sick of war and want no more fighting. It's just not true, as some have written, that "total victory" is some far-right fantasy. The policy of containment that Netanyahu led before the war failed. We're not going back to it. We cannot live with this terror state on our borders, or the next war is a matter of time. Enough war.

The Netanyahu government has decided that we cannot pay this ransom, and so Operation Gideon's Chariot is intended to get us better terms. Military pressure is the only leverage we have over Hamas, besides controlling the entry of supplies into Gaza, which is its main pipeline. Other countries have leverage over Hamas — via its patrons, Qatar, Turkey, and Iran — but they're not using it. Because they're craven and venal, and money speaks loudest. We'll deal with that later. The operation is also intended to end the game of "cat and mouse" that has seen Israeli soldiers recapturing areas we have already withdrawn from: push Hamas out once, and then keep it out until it is crushed like ISIS was crushed.

So why am I conflicted? Because I think everyone's right. I think the minority of hostage families supporting military pressure are right that this is the only leverage we have to get our hostages back (other than paying the ransom that leaves it in power). And I think the majority of hostage families who say that a military campaign endangers the hostages are also right. Hamas could conclude the hostages are worthless and execute them, like it has executed so many before. It's possible that the only leverage we have to get the hostages out is also extremely risky for them. I think the people who say that bringing the hostages back is the #1 priority are right, and I think those who say that leaving Hamas in power as the price for getting them back guarantees future war are also right. We have no good choices. We can't afford to pay this ransom, and we also can't afford not to.

As an Israeli, I fear a future in which those hostages are abandoned to die in Gaza. I also fear a future in which Hamas regroups to plot the next October 7 Massacre.

I want to be proven wrong. If I have analyzed the dilemmas wrong, please tell me. If there's another way out, tell me. The cognitive dissonance is killing me.

Tell me I'm wrong. I want to be wrong.

Early in the war, when I was still in character as a government spokesman, I was asked about my personal opinion. I said with a wry smile that I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions, only explain them. Now that the war has become increasingly contentious at home, I'm glad that I don't even have to explain them. I only have to explain the impossible trade-offs behind them.

One day, we will heal.

One day, we will rebuild.

One day, we will dance again. Walk down the Tel Aviv Promenade on a Saturday night, and you'll see that despite the constant threat of ballistic missile attacks, we're still loving life and have found a weird way to sustain a facade of normalcy in this upside down world.

War is hell. We didn't want this war. We didn't start this war. We didn't even expect this war. But by God, we have to win this war. Or there will be a next, worse war, which we don't want. And that means all the goals of the war. Defeating Hamas and bringing back the hostages.

I pray that our soldiers and hostages return safely, and that innocent people caught in the crossfire escape it.

[The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome @TheMossadIL]

"We talk about everything. About the loss, about the captivity - about anything we want"

He is the first among the released hostages in the current deal to sit down in front of a camera for an interview.

In his testimony, Eli Sharabi tells Ilana Dayan on Uvda (Channel Keshet 12) about almost 500 days in Hamas captivity, underground, chained in iron chains the entire time, suffering from extreme starvation and torture.

He is doing this for his late brother Yossi Sharabi and for his friend Alon Ahel, who are still there.

The man who returned home from hell only to find out that he had lost his entire family, decides now to speak up.

@uvda_tweet

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

One week in the life of a Jew:

THURSDAY: Hamas returned sweet old Oded and the Bibas babies in coffins. They even gave the wrong body for Shiri, and only hours later returned hers, causing even more pain.

FRIDAY: Hamas’s West Bank wing planned a massive terror attack with at least five buses and one train set to explode during morning rush hour. It could have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.

SATURDAY: Hamas released six hostages, all starved and in poor condition. One of them, Hisham, held in Gaza for 10 years, can’t even speak anymore.

SUNDAY: Hamas released a propaganda video showing two hostages at the ceremony. They brought in the two Israelis to torment them further, sending videos of the desperate young men to their families.

MONDAY: The testimonies from the newly released hostages confirmed our worst fears. They were chained, starved, beaten, humiliated, isolated, unable to move or see the sun for months…

TUESDAY: We buried Oded Lifshitz, 85, a kind man who spent his life believing in peace and helping Palestinians by driving them to Israeli hospitals.

WEDNESDAY: We buried the Bibas family, and our hearts broke as we saw Yarden standing alone, burying his wife and two young children. Hamas tried to disrupt the funeral by sending rockets.

THURSDAY: Hamas returned four more coffins, containing Israeli hostages who should still be alive.

And now, a terrorist deliberately rammed his car into eight pedestrians before stabbing them in northern Israel.

This is just one week. Seven days of anguish, fear, pain, and tears.

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

"Yahud" does not mean "Israeli forces." It means Jew.

If we want to make peace a reality, then we cannot lie about the reality we live in now.

"Documentaries" like these don't seek to tell the truth, they seek to spread a narrative.

[Rachel Moiselle @RachelMoiselle]

I’ve been studying and working in the area of language and translation since 2011.

I can categorically say that this is the single worst breach of professional ethics I have ever seen. A deliberate mistranslation to hide genocidal antisemitism. I am truly floored.

This is a stain on the BBC that will never be removed.

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

A non-targeted baby that dies in an airstrike is a tragedy.

A baby that dies at the hands of his captors by being beaten to death is a violation of human decency.

Both babies died. Both are innocent. Both deaths are tragic. But there is zero moral equivalence between the two realities.

Those who understand this are members of the human family. Those who don't, not so much.

[Mor Edge Insight @MorEdge_Insight]

All three of the hostages who were released on Sunday were held in UN facilities. For months we’ve had wave after wave of accusations and threats and lies come out from the UN, and we’ve caught them out before for holding hostages and being complicit and yet everyone forgot.

But just let it sink in.
The United Nations, the very body the world keeps entrusting with humanitarian relief were complicit in the captivity of our hostages.

And yet not a single world leader has spoken out about it.

Mind blowing 🤯

[Israel ישראל @Israel]

After 471 horrific days in captivity, Emily, Doron and Romi are finally reunited with their families.

This is a moment we will never ever forget.

[Daniel | דניאל 𓉱 @DanitheSett]

Has there always been a continuous Jewish presence in Israel?

Let's break it down century by century: 🧵👇

[𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ @NiohBerg]

My biggest blackpill moment was watching an entire society celebrate terrorism as if it was a joyous holiday.

[Mor Edge Insight @MorEdge_Insight]

I’ve lost count at how many times Israel has offered the Arabs everything they wanted, and yet they still rejected it. Because they don’t want a state of their own. They want it all, and they want us dead. It really is as simple as that.

[Vivid.🇮🇱 @VividProwess]

⚠️BREAKING: Bill Clinton tells the truth about the Palestinians and how they rejected every peace offer from Israel.

This is a must-watch and a must-listen.

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Bill Clinton On the Palestinians:

“And the only time Yasser Arafat didn't tell me the truth was when he promised me he was gonna accept the peace deal that we had worked out, which would have given the Palestinians a state on 96% of the West Bank and 4% of Israel, and they got to choose where the 4% of Israel was. So they would have the effect of the same land of all the West Bank. They would have a capital in East Jerusalem.

I can hardly talk about this…. And they would have equal access all day every day to the security towers that Israel maintained all through the West Bank up to the Golan Heights.

All this was offered, including, I will say it again, a capital in East Jerusalem and 2 of the 4 quadrants of the old city of Jerusalem, confirmed by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, and his cabinet. And they said no.

And I think part of it is that Hamas did not care about a homeland for the Palestinians. They wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable.

Well, I got news for them, they were there first before there was their faith existed.

They were there. In the time of King David, in the southern most tribes, Hadjardia and Samaria.”

[Arsen Ostrovsky @Ostrov_A]

Bill Clinton in Michigan:

"I understand why young Palestinian and Arab Americans in Michigan think too many people have died — I get that, but … Hamas makes sure that they're shielded by civilians, they'll force you to kill civilians, if you want to defend yourself."

[David Collier @mishtal]

There is no genocide, there is no apartheid, and there is no ethnic cleaning.

There is just a Jewish state defending itself against monsters - and a whole swarm of antisemites who love to demonise Israel and spread lies about Jews.