Eyal Ofer has a suggestion: "How to release the hostages: An idea outside the usual box. Hamas is currently accumulating a great deal of wealth. In cash, of course. It is estimated that Hamas has earned about a billion dollars (4 billion shekels) which it has in worn-out 200 shekel bills. We have seen that the IDF, here and there, has managed to get its hands on stacks of 200 shekel notes held in Hamas's safes. But the big billions are still with them - and all Israel needs to do is explicitly tell Hamas: You have our property And you have our commitment We offer to balance it out: Redemption of captives. An ancient Jewish value. Our commitment is to exchange your billions of worn-out shekels for new notes. We will not do this until we receive the hostages. To make it clear that the State of Israel is serious, a move to cancel the existing 200 shekel notes must be carried out immediately. All residents of Israel will be happy to deposit their cash in banks to exchange for new notes - when they know that this is a necessary step for the return of the hostages. In the meantime, Israel must refuse to accept back notes from Gaza. These notes held by Hamas are worthless. They are just paper printed by the Bank of Israel. The only thing that gives This wealth has value in the State of Israel's commitment, implemented by the Bank of Israel, to honor these notes. Public pressure is needed on the Bank of Israel to end the kidnapping saga: Until the hostages return, Israel will cancel the 200-shekel notes, replace the 100-shekel notes, and with each passing day, reduce the amount of old notes it will be willing to accept from Gaza: Let's start today. If all the hostages return today, we will be willing to accept 4 billion shekels in worn-out notes from Gaza. With each passing week, we will cut the amount of the commitment by 10%. We can also set a price for each living hostage: we will be willing to accept 100 million shekels worth of worn-out shekels from Gaza. This is the real threat to Hamas. The question is whether the Israeli government and the Bank of Israel have the courage and wisdom to use it."
See Tweet