As an Israeli who lived for many years in the United States, including in southern California, I have received a lot of messages from Americans asking me my opinion of the recent ceasefire and “hostage deal” reached between Israel and Hamas on January 16, 2025, following 467 days of war.

Many, particularly those not well-versed in Israeli history, are surprised that for most Israelis, me included, this deal was met with a mix of joy, dread, and concern.

Joy — because every Israeli wants our hostages back.

Dread — because every Israeli wants every one of our hostages to come home, and this deal doesn’t do that.

Concern — because most Israelis know that many terrorists exchanged for hostages (on average, over 40 convicted terrorists for each hostage) will return to killing Jews, and because of the danger of Hamas reconstituting itself and once again using Gaza as a launching pad for mass murder, rape, and kidnappings.

To truly understand this angst, one must understand Jewish history and one of the main reasons for Israel’s establishment as a modern nation-state. By 1948, when the Jewish people declared and fought for sovereignty in part of their indigenous and historical homeland, they had endured millennia of helplessness — unable to defend themselves from massacres, mass rapes, and kidnappings.

This helplessness and dependence on often hostile rulers or governments existed practically everywhere Jews lived, including their indigenous homeland, regardless of whether it was under Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Mamluk, Ottoman, or British rule.

Israel’s establishment created several vital social contracts with its citizens. One of these was that the days of Jews being defenseless were over. This social contract was shattered on October 7. On that day, thousands of our fellow citizens—including teenagers at a music festival, children, and Holocaust survivors in farming communities near Gaza — were abandoned by our security forces for six to eight hours as over 3,000 Hamas terrorists and 2,000 Gazan civilians roamed southern Israel, murdering, raping, and kidnapping.

The other social contract every Israeli understands is based on the principle that no person is “left behind.” In a society where most citizens are required to serve, and where Jewish religious texts amplify the duty to rescue and redeem hostages, the national commitment to “bring home” our hostages has been on the mind of every Israeli since October 7.

The impact of these social contracts is reflected in everything Israel has done and endured collectively since October 7. Israel fought a seven-front war to reestablish its deterrence, end Iran’s “ring of fire” around Israel, and destroy Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza — so that “never again” would mean something (again), and so Jewish communities would never again feel helpless and abandoned as mobs and terrorists hunted them, as they did on October 7.

But the social contract requiring us to reestablish deterrence and eliminate threats from fascist and antisemitic terrorist organizations (and their sponsors in places like Iran, Qatar, and Syria) was always, to some extent, at odds with our competing value to “bring them home.”

That is why every opinion on this hostage deal is correct, whether for or against it. If you oppose the deal because it endangers future Israelis, you are right. And if you support the deal because we owe a duty to these hostages and their families, you are also right.

In the famous novel and movie “Sophie’s Choice,” a mother at Auschwitz is forced by a Nazi “doctor” to choose which of her children will live. On October 7, Hamas kidnapped around 250 Israelis, including women, children, and Holocaust survivors, forcing Israel to face a national “Sophie’s Choice.” We must decide which hostages to negotiate for first, knowing that doing so risks the lives of presently unknown Israelis in the future. Nearly every Israeli understands that giving Hamas time and resources to rebuild will lead to more murdered Jews, just as nearly every Israeli knows that many of the released terrorists will return to trying to kill Jews.

Despite this, over 70% of Israelis favor this deal. I think that’s because most Israelis understand how badly the social contract of preventing mass murder, mass rape, and mass kidnappings was broken on October 7, and that, as a collective, we must honor the other social contract: to leave no one behind and “bring them home.”

Ultimately, that is my answer to my American friends. I feel joy at the sight of each hostage coming home and anguish over the price we may pay if we fail to destroy Hamas in Gaza, with likely over 1,500 newly released terrorists rejoining its ranks. But as an optimist — a necessary trait for most Israelis — I believe we are strong enough to honor our social contract, bring our people home, and secure a safer future.

I long for the day when our army and deterrence are no longer necessary because our neighbors realize we are here to stay, and that peace with us will bring more prosperity and happiness than the century-long path of violence their dictatorial leaders have followed.

Micha Danzig is an attorney and a writer. He lives in Israel with his wife, three children and two grandchildren and is active with numerous Jewish organizations and charities. He is a national board member of Herut.