‘We’re Releasing Dangerous Terrorists. . . and We Accept the Price’

96 snips

Feb 20, 2025

Matti Friedman, a Free Press correspondent in Jerusalem, dives into the tragic tale of the Bibas family, kidnapped by Hamas. He highlights the emotional impact of Shiri and her children's fate, drawing parallels to historical horrors. Conversations explore the moral dilemmas faced by societies when confronted with such violence and the resilience of families living under constant threat. Additionally, Friedman critiques the shifting narratives in media regarding Israel, emphasizing the increasing complexity of identity and safety for Jewish communities in a changing political landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

The Bibas Family Tragedy

Kfir and Ariel Bibas, aged nine months and four years, were kidnapped by Hamas along with their mother.
Their father, Yarden, was released after 483 days, but the children and mother were murdered.

INSIGHT

Symbol of Barbarism

Seth Mandel argues that the Bibas children symbolize Hamas's anti-civilizational nature.
He also points to the cowardice of Western leaders who ignored the kidnappings.

INSIGHT

Israel's Mixed Emotions

Israelis feel both joy at the hostages' return and awareness of the deal's price.
Releasing dangerous terrorists is a necessary evil supported by Jewish tradition, prioritizing saving lives.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

I’m sure you remember the images of Kfir and Ariel Bibas.

They were just nine months and four years old when they were kidnapped by Hamas along with their mother, Shiri, on October 7, 2023. It was impossible to look at the image of her shielding them, her eyes full of terror, the children clinging to her, and not think of the Holocaust.

For more than 500 days, people around the world prayed for the safe return of these babies. Our hopes were raised on February 1, when the fourth member of the family—Yarden Bibas—was liberated after 484 days in Hamas captivity.

But as this episode goes live, Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas won’t be returning home alive. Hamas instead will hand over their remains.

How can Israel live alongside an enemy that kidnaps and murders babies? And what does it mean for us to live in a world, where people in the West tore down posters of the Bibas children.

My friend, Commentary magazine senior editor Seth Mandel, explains why in The Free Press:

“In a better world, the faces of the Bibas children would be everywhere at all times. In the world in which we live, by contrast, posters with those faces get torn down from bulletin boards. . . . The crimes against the Bibas family are indeed the symbol of the anti-civilizational menace that is Hamas—but also of the cowardice of the political and cultural leaders of the enlightened West. . . . It is impossible for the rest of us to pretend that we didn’t see a chunk of society, whether in person or online, rush to cross that line and cheer on the people who kidnapped two babies . . . .Kfir became a symbol because he is the answer to every relevant question about this conflict. His case is the war boiled down to its essence. Kfir is the dividing line. In a better world, there’d be no one standing on the wrong side of it.”

Before the devastating news of the Bibas children broke, Bari sat down with Matti Friedman, Free Press correspondent in Jerusalem. They happened to talk on the very day that Kfir and Ariel’s father, Yarden, was released after being kept in unimaginable conditions. Now Yarden confronts the nightmare that his entire family was murdered.

Bari and Matti talk about the toll of this war, why returning the hostages is so fundamentally important to the future of Israel, about the rise of anti-Jewish hate, and about how to be American, Jewish, and Zionist all at the same time, and how Jews are waking up to a new reality in 2025.

If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today.

Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices