Rabbi ‘Cautiously Concerned,’ But Holds Hope For Middle East Ceasefire Pact

Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom, left, speaks during the 2021 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony with State Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, center, and Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott. The 2023 ceremony will be held at noon Monday at Heritage Port. (File Photo)
Rabbi Joshua Lief of Wheeling’s Temple Shalom said he’s “cautiously concerned” after Israel and Hamas agreed to conditions of a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of warfare between the two sides.
He hopes this agreement will lead to captive Israelis coming home. He hopes it’s a step toward ending the war as a whole. Yet, he said, the negotiations include a terrorist organization in Hamas.
“They’re not necessarily terribly trustworthy,” Lief said of Hamas on Friday. “I’m hopeful that they’ll release people. I wish it were all the people being released instead of a few. I wish that the hostages were all alive, though they’ve acknowledged that some of them are deceased.
“Yes, it’s the first step,” he continued, “but I hope it isn’t the last step, because there’s still quite a lot to be resolved.”
The deal is structured in three phases. The first will see the release of 33 Israeli hostages as well as the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces will move to the edge of the Gaza Strip and displaced Palestinians can return home. The second phase will see a “declaration of sustainable calm” and Hamas freeing remaining male hostages in exchange for a yet-to-be-negotiated number of Palestinian prisoners and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
In the third phase, the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages will be exchanged for the bodies of deceased Palestinian fighters, there will be an implementation of a reconstruction plan in Gaza and border crossings for movement in and out of Gaza will be reopened.
Lief believes that, for this agreement to be successful and for there to be sustained peace in the region, Hamas must be removed as a participant in the situation.
“They’re not an actual partner in the hard work that is necessary to make peace,” Lief said.
It was Hamas which kickstarted the current conflict with its cross-border attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That attack killed around 1,200 people and around 250 were taken captive. Nearly 100 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas.
Without Hamas’ influence, Lief is hopeful that everyone in the Middle East – Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians – can live peacefully together.
“Hopefully both sides, Palestinians and Israelis together, preferably without terrorism invited to the table, can discuss a future where everyone could live in peace with their neighbors,” Lief said, “where there wasn’t a constant threat of terroristic violence against Israel thanks to Hamas and where there was genuine peace and safety and security for the average Palestinian in return.”