“Israel is a small country. Everyone I know knows somebody who was killed or affected by the excruciating events of the past week. In my case, it is a family friend from our synagogue, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual American-Israeli citizen, who was at the outdoor music festival that was ambushed by Hamas. Hundreds of people were murdered at the festival; some were taken hostage. Hersh was most likely one of them.

During the attacks of last weekend, an estimated 150 Israelis were kidnapped and are still being held hostage in Gaza as Israel may be preparing to launch a ground invasion of the enclave. Men, women, young and old, children and adults. Many are injured. We don’t know if they are being treated medically. Every hour that passes endangers them further.

Historically in Israel, the effort to seek the release of captives is a central ethos. Israel has gone out of its way both militarily and diplomatically to obtain the release of its citizens in the past. In 2011, it released more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was kidnapped in 2006 by Hamas. In 2004, Israel released nearly 450 prisoners to secure the release of an Israeli citizen, Elhanan Tennenbaum, and the bodies of three soldiers who were presumed to have been killed in action, all held by Hezbollah. There are many other examples, because the idea of sacrificing everything to return the captured is far older than the state of Israel. It can be found in the texts of our Jewish tradition.”

Read the full op-ed on The New York Times.