"Bring them Home" vs "Total Victory": Inside Israel's Hostage Debate

Israel’s debate over a potential hostage deal with Hamas is not simply a policy dispute; it is a struggle over identity, memory, and the meaning of national responsibility. While all Israelis want the hostages returned, they are deeply divided over whether to accept a ceasefire‑based deal that would leave Hamas in power. This article presents the voices of two hostage family forums—one demanding a deal “by any means necessary,” the other insisting that national survival and total victory must come first—and explores what each vision means for Israel’s future.

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Everyone agrees on one thing: all the hostages must come home. The living should be reunited with their families and begin the long work of healing; the dead should be brought back for burial so their families can finally mourn. But agreement ends there.

The only kind of hostage deal Hamas is willing to consider includes a ceasefire and conditions that would effectively end the war on its terms. Many Israelis cannot accept that. Others believe Israel will never recover its soul if it refuses. On one side stands the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. On the other, the Tikva Forum, made up of hostage families who oppose a ceasefire deal—even at the cost of their own loved ones.

“By any means necessary”: The Hostages and Missing Families Forum

Formed within 24 hours of October 7th, the Hostages Families Forum made “Bring Them Home Now” its rallying cry. They turned the square in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art into Hostages Square, a permanent reminder of those still in Gaza. Their motto is clear:

“By any means necessary and through all available channels—we will not rest until they are back home.”

At a mass rally, former hostage Moran Stela Yanai appealed to the world: this is not about politics, she said, but about humanity and the belief that no one should be left behind in darkness.

Grandfather Eli Bibas spoke of his grandson Kfir, kidnapped at 8.5 months and now marking his second birthday in captivity. He described the unbearable image of a toddler’s birthday in hell instead of at home in Nir Oz.

Ruby Chen, father of the late Itay Chen, invoked Yoni Netanyahu and Entebbe, asking the prime minister when his family will be allowed to sit shiva as Yoni’s parents did. He urged the government to ensure that any agreement moves from phase to phase until all hostages are released. For this forum, the moral imperative is simple: bring them home, whatever it takes.

“The nation before the individual”: The Tikva Forum

The Tikva (Hope) Forum was founded by hostage families who see things differently. Its leading voice, Tzvika Mor, is the father of Eitan, kidnapped from the Nova Festival after hours spent rescuing others under fire. Tzvika believes Israel must continue fighting and reject any deal that includes a ceasefire, even if it means his son never returns.

Speaking after a meeting with the prime minister, he warned that the proposed deal would strengthen Hamas: a million Gazans returning north, hundreds of trucks entering, and no ability to fight. He fears that after the first stage, Hamas will simply entrench itself.

Tzvika, a grandson of Holocaust survivors, compared the current “selection” to the selections his grandparents endured in Auschwitz—only now, he fears, it could determine his son’s fate. He demanded that the government stop the deal and warned against creating “another 70 Ron Arads,” invoking the airman captured in 1986 whose fate remains unknown and whose absence haunted Israel for decades.

Israel’s soul, then and now                          

Supporters of the deal warn that refusing it will permanently damage Israel’s soul: how can a country abandon its own citizens in captivity? Opponents argue that accepting it will do the same: how can a country knowingly empower the enemy that massacred its people and still claim to protect them?

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