All Jews are cautiously rejoicing in light of the announced return of the hostages. This is a sacred moment, a flicker of light in a long and merciless night. There are few sights more beautiful than that of a captive returning home. In their faces, we see not only survival but something divine, the endurance of a people who, no matter how often the world tries to break them, refuse to disappear.

While celebrating this deliverance is right, it would be wrong to mistake it for peace.

I have seen this movie too many times before, and every time it ends the same way — with funerals, not festivals. While the hostages’ return will be a win, the deal that delivered them is not. It is another act in the long play of wishful thinking that has haunted Israel since Oslo, and it will, I fear, lead

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