The Head and the Heart
Ending the War as a State, a People, and a Nation
“There is a wisdom of the head, and... there is a wisdom of the heart.”
—Charles Dickens, Hard Times
“Hard times,” indeed. At the moment, hard choices, too. The state of Israel needs to definitively defeat Hamas to reassert its ability to defend its borders, the most basic responsibility of any country. The people of Israel need the remaining hostages freed so they can move forward, like any people seeking closure after a traumatic event. These two requisites—one, the product of the head, the other, of the heart—are being held in an untenable tension. A full Hamas surrender likely means the loss of the hostages. The release of the hostages likely means the survival of Hamas.
As with any conflict in which reason pulls in one direction and emotions tug in the other, resolution is only possible if the two are brought into dialogue and both are allowed to serve as guides. In personal decision-making, we know it is self-defeating to dismiss thoughts as cold or feelings as irrational. We accept that our heads crave stability and sustainability, while our hearts yearn for values and comfort. We try to reach decisions grounded both in reason and emotional honesty.
When it comes to our government reaching a decision about when to end the war, integrating the head and heart is far more complex and consequential. The need for a temporary, military occupation of Gaza is real. So is the heavy societal toll that the loss of the remaining hostages would inflict. If the heady business of military strategizing is prioritized and we continue the war—even to the point of an unlikely, full Hamas surrender—long-term stability in Gaza would remain far from assured. If our hearts’ empathy takes precedence, and a release of the hostages ends the war with Hamas still a dominant force, future terrorism would be inevitable. (And this is to say nothing, for now, of the political agendas driving much of the decision-making.) In this fight against extremism, a middle path is not only indiscernible, it is risky; we may come to regret whatever we choose.
And yet, we can only succeed if we find a way to balance head and heart. We must safeguard the State of Israel, a sovereign entity with borders, a government, and laws, and respect the will of the People of Israel, with its shared culture and history, if we are to fulfill the promise of being the Nation of Israel.