For Heaven’s Sake – “Coming Home”

Date: August 27, 2025 (originally aired January 16, 2025)
Hosts: Donniel Hartman & Yossi Klein Halevi
Produced by: Shalom Hartman Institute & Ark Media
Topic: The ceasefire and hostage release deal in Israel; its social, moral, and political repercussions.

Overview

In this reflective episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss the intense atmosphere in Israel as the nation awaits a major hostage release deal brokered via Egypt, the US, and Qatar. As the deal nears implementation, debates rage across Israeli society about the priorities of national strength versus “Derech Eretz” (common decency), family loyalty, and the difficulty of closure after trauma. The hosts explore the ambivalence, ethical dilemmas, and the profound psychological impact that recent wartime experiences have had on Israelis, emphasizing the complexity of collective identity, the limits of national solidarity, and the fracturing (and resilience) of the Israeli “family.”

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Meaning of “Derech Eretz” and the National Mood

• Derech Eretz, Common Decency, and Naming the Operation

  • The operation to bring the hostages home is named "Derech Eretz," which simultaneously means “the path to the land” and signifies the Jewish value of basic decency—prioritizing moral behavior over strict legalism.
  • Quote [02:34]:

    "Derech Eretz is the term for common decency. In our tradition, we learn that Derech Eretz, common decency, has to come before the law…bringing our hostages home is not a strategic necessity, even though it has strategic significance. It's just common decency."
    — Donniel Hartman

• National Anticipation and Tension

  • A sense of "animated suspension" pervades the country, with everyone anxiously checking for updates on the hostage deal’s status.
  • Cultural touchstones (like Israel’s popular satire show) highlight this collective fixation.

2. Deep Societal Cleavages: Family, Nation, and Protest

• Majority Support and Minority Protests

  • Support for the deal exceeds 80%, but a vocal right-wing minority stages protests—even blocking traffic—to oppose the agreement.
  • Quote [05:57]:

    "I don't ever remember seeing demonstrations against a hostage deal…there were hundreds of right-wing demonstrators who blocked traffic…including members of Knesset, members of this government."
    — Yossi Klein Halevi

• A Divided Notion of Closure

  • Israelis face two definitions of closure:

    1. Family-Oriented Closure: Desire to "get back to life" by ensuring no Israeli is left behind, driven by familial connection.
    2. Victory-Oriented Closure: Asserted primarily by two camps:
       • Those seeking “complete victory” and total destruction of Hamas.
       • Those (including some mainstream voices) seeking restoration to a pre-trauma status quo, or even to pre-Gaza disengagement.

  • Quote [11:54]:

    "For them, closure is going back to a pre-2005 withdrawal from Gaza…one has a fantasy messianic vision…another can’t live with the defeat of October 7th without an erasure [of Hamas]."
    — Donniel Hartman

3. The Erosion and Endurance of “Family”

• Bittersweet Solidarity

  • Yossi mourns a lost sense of unified national family, noting past occasions (like the Gilad Shalit deal) that, while controversial, still elicited national togetherness. The current deal is more divisive, fueling bitterness and distrust.
  • Anger is directed at government decisions and their politicization of the hostage issue.
  • Quote [13:34]:

    "Listening to you, I realize part of the closure…the reassurance that we're still a decent society that functions as a family…we've lost something in our familial capacity, and that's part of what we've lost on October 7th."
    — Yossi Klein Halevi

• Loyalty to Family vs. Nation

  • Donniel emphasizes that “family” loyalties, while subversive to hardline nationalism, are at the core of this debate. Ultranationalists sometimes view family concerns as obstacles to total sacrifice for the collective.
  • Quote [16:05]:

    "The greatest danger to ultranationalism…is family loyalties. The loyalty to the collective has to be more important than anything else…for them the deal is dangerous."
    — Donniel Hartman

4. Tolerating Difference Within the “Family”

• Accommodating Dissent

  • Both hosts underscore the necessity of accepting disagreement as a hallmark of a “family.” Even deeply opposed views—however “shameless” or “obnoxious”—must be included for national integrity.
  • Quote [18:24]:

    "If you take family seriously, you're forced to expand…include people whose ideas are abhorrent to you…those of us who believe in…liberal nationalism are bound by the constraints of family."
    — Yossi Klein Halevi

• Universal Readiness to Sacrifice

  • Donniel acknowledges that even hardline opponents rallied to save Israel after October 7th, signaling that “family” values are deeply rooted across divides.
  • The Israeli army phrase “going under the stretcher”—explained as everyone shouldering the burden—embodies this ethos.

5. The Emotional Toll and Future Challenges

• Uncertainty and Trauma

  • There is anguish over the unknown fate of hostages—especially children and young women—and the psychological toll of constant anticipation and dread.
  • Quote [23:46]:

    "What’s on the minds of most Israelis today are the children…are they alive, what condition are they in, and what condition are the young women in? We can’t bear to think what they might have endured."
    — Yossi Klein Halevi

• Mourning, Blame, & Political Fallout

  • The hosts anticipate raw emotions, anger, and blame—towards both Hamas and the Israeli government, especially as some families may receive grim news.
  • Fears linger about political actors leveraging the situation (e.g., Smotrich’s conditional support for the deal).

• No Real Closure

  • Even with hostages’ return, rage and grief will persist; any resolution will be partial and fraught with “I-told-you-so” recriminations.
  • Quote [24:19]:

    "Even when we see them home…there’s a sense whereby you just have to go on. I believe this is going to rip so deep into Israeli society…"
    — Donniel Hartman

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Naming the Operation [02:34]
  "They're declaring that bringing our hostages home…is just common decency…we owe our families and our hostages to bring them home…regardless of the costs." — Donniel Hartman

• On Bittersweet Solidarity and Distrust [07:55]
  "There’s…this nagging feeling that so many of us have that the government is not going to prioritize their release, that something is going to go wrong because we're dealing with a government where things inherently go wrong." — Yossi Klein Halevi

• On the Price of Disagreement [18:24]
  "If you take family seriously, you're forced to expand your parameters to include people whose ideas are abhorrent to you." — Yossi Klein Halevi

• On Carrying the Collective Burden [21:00]
  "Going under the stretcher…requires a community…It’s the ethos of taking responsibility, joining the army…carrying your weight, but in a much more graphic manner." — Donniel Hartman

• Looking Ahead [28:45]
  "The Israeli public generally hasn't faced its internal inconsistencies of wanting the hostages, wanting total victory. Well, this is a moment of truth." — Yossi Klein Halevi

Important Timestamps

• [00:49] - Setting the stakes: national tension, overview of the hostage deal
• [02:34] - The meaning and significance of “Derech Eretz”
• [05:33] - The “family moment” in Israeli society—and its ambivalence
• [11:54] - Competing notions of closure in Israeli society
• [13:34] - Lost sense of solidarity and distrust towards the government
• [16:05] - Family loyalty versus ultranationalism
• [18:24] - Tolerating difference: embracing dissent inside the “family”
• [21:00] - Explaining “going under the stretcher”—the burden of communal responsibility
• [23:46] - Emotional depth: fear over the fate of young hostages
• [24:19] - Anticipated societal trauma in the aftermath
• [28:45] - The struggle to reconcile desire for both hostages’ return and military victory
• [29:36] - Closing reflections and hope

Summary Takeaway

“Coming Home” captures Israel at a crossroads, suspended between hope and heartbreak, unity and division, moral conviction and realpolitik. Hartman and Halevi offer a deeply personal, honest portrait of an Israeli society whose greatest moral strengths—the embrace of “Derech Eretz” and the family—are also the sources of its most acute tensions and vulnerabilities. As the country awaits the return of its hostages, listeners are left with a profound sense of the emotional cost of war and the ever-present challenge of holding together a fractured national “family.”