Jewish Voice's "The Price" unveils the hidden cost of Israel’s hostage deal

A new website called “The Price,” launched by the right-wing outlet The Jewish Voice (Hakol HaYehudi), pulls back the curtain on Israel’s latest hostage deal with Hamas, revealing details the government preferred to keep quiet. It lists the names, crimes, and victims of 737 terrorists freed in January 2025, urging the public to share this buried truth. The project aims to encourage a tough but vital conversation about the deal’s toll, one that’s been largely stifled.

Exposing the Deal’s True Weight

The second hostage deal with Hamas, finalized in January, freed captives but at a steep cost: 737 terrorists, including 284 serving life sentences, walked free.

“The Price” lays it all bare, naming each one, detailing their attacks, and listing over 700 Israelis they killed. It’s a gut-punch reminder of the stakes, from the pain of families whose loved ones’ killers now roam to the risk of emboldening Hamas to strike again. The site was rolled out today (Sunday) and invites users to dig into the data and spread it, forcing a reckoning with what Israel paid.

For months, intense campaigns by PR firms, left-leaning groups, and media pushed for any deal, brushing aside the consequences. The grief of bereaved families was sidelined, and the danger of releasing terror masterminds, some back into Israel, was downplayed.

These deals, The Jewish Voice argues, power Hamas’s drive to kidnap and kill more, yet the public debate has been muted, starved of hard facts. “The Price” wants to change that, putting the names and faces of the freed and their victims front and center.

A Labor of Memory

Building the site took hundreds of hours, with The Jewish Voice staff and volunteers combing old news reports and archives to compile accurate records. They tracked down details of attacks and victims, a process that sometimes led to grim discoveries.

In several cases, they were the first to tell families their loved ones’ killers had been released, a task the government overlooked in the rush to close the deal. The site covers 737 terrorists, including those who planned or carried out deadly bombings, shootings, and stabbings, and names over 700 of their victims, ensuring their stories aren’t forgotten.

The project draws a concerning parallel to the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, which freed one soldier for over 1,000 terrorists, including Hamas’s future leader Yahya Sinwar. That deal’s cost, The Jewish Voice notes, was paid in the October 7, 2023, massacre, enabled by a media campaign that silenced questions about the price. “The Price” refuses to let history repeat, demanding an open look at what’s really at stake.

Tough Questions, No Easy Answers

The site doesn’t just share data; it challenges readers to wrestle with hard truths. How much should Israel sacrifice for hostages? Can freed terrorists be stopped from killing again? How do you honor victims while negotiating with their murderers? These aren’t abstract issues: they’re the raw reality for families who’ve lost loved ones and citizens who fear the next attack. The debate, The Jewish Voice says, has been absent from mainstream outlets and even social media, drowned out by calls for quick deals.

The team behind “The Price” acknowledges the work’s weight. They poured countless hours into ensuring accuracy but even so, they admit that mistakes might exist, given the topic’s complexity. They’re asking the public to flag errors, offering apologies upfront for any oversights, knowing how deeply personal this is for those affected.

A Call to Confront the Truth

“The Price” is a plea to face the deal’s human cost. By naming the terrorists and their victims, it forces Israel to look at the lives lost, the risks taken, and the future at stake. It’s a conversation the country can’t afford to skip, no matter how painful.

Hakol Hayeudi contributed to this article.