Dr. Ofir Falk, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political adviser and a member of Israel’s hostage negotiation team, analyzed in The Wall Street Journal how the crisis shaped the course of the war.
Falk wrote that “taking hostages can ultimately produce the opposite outcome — the destruction of a terrorist organization.”
Reviewing Israel’s struggle with Hamas since what he called “the folly of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005,” Falk noted that Israel was repeatedly forced to limit its actions under international pressure — in Operation Cast Lead (2008), Pillar of Defense (2012), and Protective Edge (2014). “Each time,” he wrote, “initial global outrage toward Hamas gave way to demands that Israel stop fighting.” But, he argued, “October 7 shattered that cycle.”
According to Falk, as long as hostages remained in Gaza, the international community — led by President Trump and wartime German leaders — justified Israel’s defensive war. “No responsible leader could demand that a nation abandon its citizens held by Hamas terrorists,” he said.