Israelis Dig In for Total Victory Against Iran, With or Without the USA

TEL AVIV—Missiles rain down, sirens wail, and Israelis are still shouting from the rooftops: take out Iran’s nuclear program, and don’t stop ‘til it’s done. 

A fresh poll from Agam Labs and Hebrew University lays it bare: 83% of Israeli Jews and 70% of the whole country back the shock-and-awe campaign that kicked off Friday night to gut Iran’s nukes and missiles. Only 1% of Jews and 16% overall are still clinging to the pipe dream of “let’s talk it out” with Tehran. 

Airstrikes are a crowd-pleaser: over 90% are all in for hammering Iran’s nuclear sites, with 54% of Jews and nearly half the public say keep pounding, even if the U.S. and allies stop playing goalie against Iran’s missile barrages. Still, two-thirds call the U.S.-Israel bromance “critical” for survival, and only 30% would tell Trump to shove it if he pushed for a deal to end the war. 

The poll, which questioned 1,057 Israelis Sunday and Monday with a 4.2% margin of error, screams one thing: Israel’s ready to go solo if it means neutralizing Iran’s existential threat—but they’d rather not.

“There’s a rock-solid consensus: we had to hit Iran, and we ain’t stopping,” says Nimrod Nir, Agam Labs’ head honcho. “Half the country’s ready to keep swinging without U.S. backup, even if they’re not sure we can seal the deal alone.”

Netanyahu’s out here projecting incredible energy, saying Israel can handle its business without help. But whispers from the brass admit only U.S. bunker-busters can truly turn Iran’s nuke dreams into rubble. They’re begging Trump for the heavy artillery, like bunker-busters, for example.

This war’s been a gut-punch. Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones have killed to date 24, wounded hundreds, displaced thousands, and turned daily life into a nightmare. Schools have been shuttered, businesses tanking, yet, Israelis aren’t cowering. The poll says pride and hope are outmuscling fear and despair two-to-one. The air force [IAF] and Mossad are gods right now, with “very high” trust, while the military and emergency crews aren’t far behind.

Bar Shalev Nathan, a 34-year-old marketing analyst from Tzofim in the West Bank, is living the war’s grind. She’s hunkered down in a public shelter with her husband, three kids, and four other families, hot, buggy, sleeping on thin mattresses. “I really don’t mind spending another 30 or 60 nights sleeping on the floor in a shelter, if this means we will eliminate the Iranian threat,” she says, steely-eyed. “I’m not hopeful. I’m confident. I’m so sure we’ve got this, and it’s going to be sweet in the end.”

Military leaders are talking a week or two to crush Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Yuval Shamir, a 35-year-old Tel Aviv engineer, shrugs off Iran’s retaliation as weak sauce, even with two missiles hitting near his place. Mid-siren, he doubles down: “It doesn’t matter how many of us they kill now. If we let them get the bomb, they will kill us all.”

The poll splits down the middle on whether the endgame’s total victory or a beefier diplomatic deal, and if Israel can finish Iran’s nukes without Uncle Sam. But with the stakes this high, most say there’s no choice but to try. Another poll from the Israel Democracy Institute backs this up: 69% of Jews and 63% overall say Israel was right to pull the trigger, even knowing the U.S. might be needed to close the deal.

Shalev Nathan’s not mincing words: “Eliminate all the ballistic missile capability that Iran currently has, and of course, demolish every part of the nuclear program.” Or, as she puts it, quoting Trump, Iran could opt for “unconditional surrender.” She’s bullish: “I think we can definitely succeed even without U.S. help. It will be much harder and probably take much longer, but we can and we definitely should do it.”

Shamir’s got no time for naysayers saying Israel can’t crack Iran’s fortified sites like Fordow. “We have ways to do it ourselves, even if it takes many bombs or soldiers on the ground,” he says. “I’m sure we have a plan.”

But Eyal Barad, a 42-year-old engineer from Kiryat Gat, isn’t so sure. He doubts Israel can breach Fordow without U.S. bunker-busters. Worse, he’s betting Iran’s mullahs will rebuild their nuke program, deal or no deal. Only regime change—something Israel’s starting to cozy up to—might stop Iran’s “genocidal crusade” against the Jewish state. “Changing the regime in a different country usually doesn’t end well,” Barad admits. “But if we leave the regime in place, we will only have succeeded to hurt their pride, and five years from now, they will attack us without warning.”

Barad has skin in the game. He lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit spots in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, slaughter, backed by Iran’s cash. That day taught him tolerating enemies is a losing bet. He hopes crushing Iran weakens Hamas enough to free the remaining hostages—four from his old kibbutz—and end the Gaza war. The poll says 75% of Israelis want that deal, a softer stance than their hawkish vibe on Iran.

“There’s no need to keep fighting in Gaza,” Barad says. “Just finish it, especially now that it looks like the Iranians will not be able to continue backing and funding Hamas. It will be harder for Hamas to get stronger again.”

 
Israelis are riding a wave of defiance, ready to take on Iran alone if they must. But the shadow of U.S. support, or its absence, looms large. They’re betting on victory, and they’re not blinking. 

Am Yisrael Chai.

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Hamas refuses to provide list of hostages to be released

Activist sets up photos of hostages held in the Gaza Strip before a statement by released hostages in  "Hostage Square" on Dec. 17, 2024. Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images.

According to sources closely involved in the negotiations, Hamasshole Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of rodent-faced Yahya Sinwar who has been killed while trying to hide from the IDF, is deliberately obstructing the hostage deal and has misled mediators for weeks. 

Not surprisingly, the optimism about the hostage negotiations has turned into frustration as obstacles, specifically those put forth by Sinwar, in the dealings have stalled the process.

Sources close to the talks suggest there's been a lot of intentional blocking, explaining how the brother of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been misleading mediators for weeks. He's been refusing to provide hostage lists and backing out of deals that were already agreed upon. Security and political officials are very worried about how Sinwar has been managing the negotiations. 

One might even surmise that Hamas has lost touch with the whereabouts of the hostages, or that they may have already been murdered.

Two big problems keep coming up: Hamas won't give a list of hostages for the first release, and there's disagreement about how many terrorist prisoners should be swapped and the terms of their deportation.

Israeli officials say that getting a hostage list is a must-have before anything else, and Hamas not doing so is stopping talks on other issues.

The end of the war is another big argument. At first, Hamas seemed okay with not discussing it to start negotiations, but now they want it to be part of any deal, making one wonder about their reasoning.

Security officials told ministers this week that starting the deal's first phase would likely lead to finishing it. Cabinet ministers seem more ready to accept the high costs of this deal but don't want to end the war, because allowing Hamas to remain intact is like allowing a few roaches to live under the sink and hope that they will not grow again.

There has been some progress though. They've agreed on releasing hostages who meet basic humanitarian needs and on sending more aid to Gaza. There's also some agreement on where Israeli forces should be during any ceasefire.

A high-ranking Cabinet member told Israel Hayom that while some topics might lead to a deal, they could also make things fall apart. Both sides are thinking about Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration on January 20.

Hamas made a statement on Wednesday, blaming Jerusalem for adding "new conditions related to withdrawal [of troops], ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available."

Hamas said the talks were "proceeding seriously in Doha with Qatari and Egyptian mediation" and claimed that the terrorist organization "has shown responsibility and flexibility."

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office responded, "The Hamas terrorist organization continues to lie, is reneging on understandings that have already been reached and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations.

“However, Israel will continue its relentless efforts to return all of our hostages,” the statement added.

The Israeli negotiators, including top officials from the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet, were set to return to Jerusalem on Tuesday night after a "significant" week of indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar, according to the PMO. They're coming back for "internal consultations regarding the continuation of the talks for the return of our hostages."

On Monday night, Hannah Katzir, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, and freed in November of that year in a hostage exchange with Hamas, passed away at 78. Hannah was released on November 24, 2023, among 12 other women and children that day. By the end of the six-day truce on November 30, 105 captives were freed.

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Daughter of hostage to Biden: "Why didn't you threaten like Trump?"

The daughter of two murdered hostages, livid over the incompetence and/or indifference of the Biden administration, slams him and other world leaders for not demanding Hamas release the hostages "or else." She pointed to President-elect Donald Trump's recent post on X threatening the Hamassholes if they don't release their hostages and said it serves as an example for the international community.

Weinstein Haggai’s parents, Gadi and Judi, held dual Israel and American citizenship. The couple were brutally murdered in their Kibbutz Nir Oz home during the October 7th cowardly terror slaughter, and their bodies were kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.

“Our situation would have been a lot different. We would have saved many lives — not only Israelis, not only hostages, but also Palestinians — if only world leaders took a stand for the unconditional release of all these hostages,” she told the Times of Israel.

She stated that her critique "definitely" extends to Biden, noting that although she was grateful for his initial support for Israel after the massacres, she felt his demands for Hamas to release the hostages lacked sufficient force.

"The demand for them to be released 'or else,' is what I'm looking for," said Weinstein Haggai.

She argued that the reluctance of Biden and other global leaders to impose significant repercussions on Hamas for holding hostages has prolonged the conflict and devastation in the region.

"When these Hamas terrorists... see that world leaders don't pressure them... it sends a message to them that they can execute six beautiful young people and there are no consequences, that they can release these propaganda videos and nobody's going to do anything," Weinstein Haggai continued.

She concluded by saying it's "never too late" for world leaders to take on Trump's approach towards Hamas.

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Baby brothers and mother kidnapped and held hostage are dead, Hamas said

Kfir Bibas

At first, the Hamasshole scum said they couldn't find the Bibas babies, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old when kidnapped, along with their mother, Shiri Silverman Bibas. Hope burned in the hearts and minds of the family that they would be found and eventually returned home, but that hope has since been crushed by the bastards that stole them from their beds.

Shiri and her husband, Yaden Bibas, were in their home's safe room when the Hamas attack began. Yaden is believed to still be in captivity.

The family was abducted from Israel on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border when Hamas terrorists stormed into the kibbutz and began slaughtering, mutilating, raping, burning, beheading, and proudly torturing Israelis. They also took hostages because they were told that they would be paid for every hostage they could steal away.

So proud were these vermin that they video-recorded their sadistic carnage and some even called home to their parents to boast of their demonic deeds. One Hamasshole took his victims phone and put her on Facebook as he killed her for all to see.

Sick b****rds.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military arm, announced the deaths of three Israel hostages, including the abducted brothers. 

Kfir, who was 9 months old at the time had just learned to crawl when he was kidnapped by the scum who anti-Semites look up to.

Hamas claims the family members were all killed in an Israel Defense Force bombing of the Gaza Strip. They want people to think it's Israel's fault after Hamas took them to a danger zone. 

Israel is investigating the matter, but if the claim of their deaths is true, don't blame Israel--blame the war criminals who are responsible and stop pretending there is even one iota of moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

Our hearts cry out for these victims and all victims of their evil anti-Semitic jihad.

The IDF posted a response to the report on X, saying they are "examining the reliability of the information" before adding, "The responsibility for the safety of all the abductees and abductees in the Gaza Strip lies fully with the terrorist organization Hamas."

Of course it is. They are guilty of a myriad of war crimes, including how they broke the ceasefire deal when the hostages and terrorist prisoners were being exchanged.

The Bibas family issued a statement, which was shared on X about the claims. It reads: "Our family is updated on the latest statement from Hamas. We are waiting for military authorities to confirm or, hopefully, refute the news soon. We thank the Israeli people for the warm embrace but we ask to maintain our privacy in this very complex moment."

The brothers' deaths were announced Wednesday via Telegram. 

Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children who were taken abducted and taken hostage.

Any American who sides with Hamas and knows what they really did, is evil. Those who are simply useful idiots are simply idiots.

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