Two years ago, on October 7th, Israel was thrust into darkness. The massacre that followed shattered our sense of security, unity, and peace. Since that day, every Israeli, every Jew, has carried the weight of that trauma, waiting for the moment we could finally bring our people home.
Now, nearly two years to the day, that moment is almost here. The deal has been structured, and according to reports, the living will return home Sunday, and the dead will follow Monday. Words can’t describe what that means to a nation that has prayed, fought, and wept for this moment.
But while the emotion is overwhelming, clarity is essential.
Hamas didn’t agree to this deal because they wanted peace. They agreed because they were defeated — militarily, financially, and morally. Their tunnels are destroyed. Their leadership decimated. Their control over Gaza collapsing. What remains is not a government, but a shadow, surviving only because Israel has allowed it, for now.
And let’s be honest: they agreed because they were cornered by force, not persuaded by diplomacy. This was not a gesture of goodwill it was a consequence of power. The kind of power that exists when Israel fights without hesitation and when America, under President Donald J. Trump, leads without confusion.
Trump’s message was simple: when terror takes hostages, it doesn’t deserve a seat at the table, it deserves consequences. He didn’t negotiate from weakness; he redefined negotiation through dominance. He made it clear that this deal wasn’t a compromise with terror it was the result of terror’s collapse.
As for the so-called “civilian population” in Gaza, the same one that danced on October 7th, that joined the murders and looting, that voted for Hamas, that hid weapons under schools and homes, the truth remains uncomfortable. The suffering they now endure is the direct result of what they supported. Maybe some are beginning to realize what Hamas brought upon them, but that doesn’t make them innocent. It makes them complicit in their own destruction.
At the same time, Israel is confronting its own test, not on the battlefield, but within. The unity that defined the early days after October 7th has faded. We’ve turned inward, divided over politics, leadership, and identity. But perhaps this moment, this fragile intersection of grief and redemption can remind us what truly matters: Our people. Our purpose. Our survival.
We don’t have to agree on everything, but we must never forget who we are and who our enemies are.
Because what Israel has achieved is nothing short of miraculous.
In two years, a terror empire that ruled Gaza for nearly two decades was dismantled from the inside out.
Entire tunnel networks once described as “cities beneath cities” are now reduced to rubble.
Hamas’s leadership — Deif, Haniyeh, Sinwar, all eliminated.
To the north, Hezbollah learned the same lesson. The precision “beeper strike” in which Israel turned Hezbollah’s own communication devices into explosives will be remembered as one of the most ingenious operations in military history. In a single coordinated moment, the very tools they used to command and control became the instruments of their destruction.
Their strongholds in southern Lebanon lie in ruins. And their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the man who promised to “wipe out Israel” was himself wiped from the earth.
Iran, Hamas’s greatest sponsor and loudest mouthpiece, finds itself fractured. Its proxies in disarray, its regime weakened and exposed. For the first time in decades, Tehran’s threats sound like noise, not power.
And across the region, something unimaginable is happening: the Arab world is no longer standing with Hamas it’s standing back. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf states even Lebanon now recognize that Israel is the stabilizing force in the Middle East, not the obstacle to peace. The conversation has shifted from “how to weaken Israel” to “how to work with Israel.”
That is not just victory. That is transformation. A reminder to the world and to us that when Israel fights for life, the entire region takes a step toward it.
As it was promised to our forefather Avraham thousands of years ago:
“Those who bless you, I will bless; those who curse you, I will curse.”
So now, as we count the minutes, waiting with bated breath for our hostages to return, I offer my blessing to President Donald J. Trump, for his courage, clarity, and strength; to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for standing firm under unbearable pressure; and to the soldiers, families, and leaders who carried our nation through two years of fire.
And to our brothers and sisters, the hostages who have returned, and those still waiting to be reunited, whether in life or in memory, may you find peace, comfort, and honor. May your names never be forgotten, your courage never fade, and your pain never be in vain.
May the One who redeemed Israel in every generation redeem us again, completely, safely, and soon.
May He bless all who bless this nation, expose all who curse it, and remind the world once more that Am Yisrael Chai is not just a slogan, but a promise kept.