The Israeli singer and songwriter Shlomi Saban gave an unusual, and moving, performance recently on the border with Gaza, as Matti Friedman recounts:

The parents of one of the hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7 attack, a young musician named Alon Ohel, had the idea that their son would hear the songs and draw strength to hold on. They invited three of his favorite singers, one of them Shaban, to play here, at one of the deserted communities along the border, and of course he came. Performing for people engulfed by the current tragedy, like soldiers and evacuees, is what Israeli artists do now.

Shaban is, in Friedman’s view, “the only genius currently active in Israeli popular music.” It is his biblically themed song “Canaan” that, although written three years ago, has come to be most associated with the current war:

Echoes from the Hebrew Bible and prayers are common in Israeli pop music in a way that would seem strange to American ears outside the quarantine zone of Christian rock. But Shaban goes further here, punctuating the verses of “Canaan” with a haunting nigun—a wordless hasidic melody, a return to a diaspora sound that the old Zionist anthems would never have considered.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.