Pizzaballa’s Way to Peace

The Cardinal offered himself in return for the Israeli hostages right after Hamas’ massacre. The offer could now help to break a deadlock in the region.

It’s resurfacing on the web (see here), the October 2023interview (see here) where the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, offered himself in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. Two years ago, the offer eventually got swamped by the ensuing developments, where the war seemed to hold promise for solving the situation.

Now that we are clearly at an impossible deadlock, Pizzaballa’s offer becomes more actual than ever. The gesture mirrors that of Pope Paul VI in 1978, when he presented himself in a swap for Aldo Moro, the top Italian politician kidnapped by the Red Brigades. The Red Brigades refused the offer, and Hamas will likely do the same today. Yet, now as then, the gesture is crucial—it cuts through the bitter debate between hawks and doves.

In 1978, the Italian parliament was split over whether to negotiate with the terrorists. The pros and cons of each position were debated in the press in a ritual that almost resembled the medieval flaying of institutions.

Similarly, Israeli and international public opinion has been debating for two years what to do about Hamas and its hostages. The fundamental reality is that Hamas does not want to release the hostages. Its true political goal is to subject Israel and the West to a slow, gradual political pillory that tears them apart from within. The Pope’s gesture exposed that pretense.

The Red Brigades’ aim was not genuine negotiation with the state but rather to inject destructive elements into the state itself. The same holds for Hamas today. Its objective is not peace, the release of Palestinian prisoners, or even the liberation of Palestine. The goal is to inject a virus into Western blood—one that will develop into a fatal disease and destroy everything. It is an apocalyptic strategy, yet with a hidden and realist direction.

In 1978, the Red Brigades acted on Moscow’s orders to stir up the weak flank of the West: Italy. Today, Hamas acts on Tehran’s orders—and perhaps Moscow’s—to toss the West and divert its attention from the Ukrainian battlefield. In this strategy, the divisions within Hamas—just like the divisions within the Red Brigades 47 years ago—are decoys, masking fictions with illusions.

The deeper reality is laid bare by Pizzaballa: Hamas will not release the hostages, nor will it accept the cardinal in exchange. But the very fact that the offer goes unanswered, now as in 1978, reveals the terrorists’ ruthless strategy—the apocalypse.

In 1978, Italy successfully countered the terrorist challenge through a combination of various policies. The government brought in the Communist Party, which had been in opposition for thirty years and was the pool from which the terrorists sought to draw. Likewise, today, Israel must separate the Palestinians from Hamas—this is the actual battlefield of the war. This is the effort the Catholic Church has been attempting in Israel and worldwide since the war began.

Everything is very different—1978 Italy is not 2025 Israel—yet some similarities are striking. Just as a partnership between the government and the Communist Party turned the tide in the political battle against red terrorism back then, today a collaboration between Israel, the Catholic Church, and moderate Palestinians could be crucial in defeating Hamas’ terrorists.

Pizzaballa allows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extricate himself from the corner he has found himself in since the start of the war. It is a chance to Qatar, too, to pick a side, sponsor the surrender of all the hostages, and isolate the most stubborn of Hamas militants.