IDF's Lieutenant Colonel Discussing Israeli Hostages: Insider Insights

Today we have a very special episode. I have a very special guest with us tonight. You might recognize him. His name is Jonathan Cornicus Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Konrykes. He's been an absolute advocate for the Jewish people. He's at the forefront of every single news publication and they've been beating him up. It's not been easy for you, Jonathan. And I gotta tell you, you're making us all proud and thank you so much for that. And thank you for being on the show with us tonight. Thank you, a pleasure and an honour. Thank you for having me. about the women and the children, but the men too. I have a few questions for you. We've been discussing, they've been discussing the hostage deal. First of all, does the IDF know where the hostages are? We have information. It's very delicate and very sensitive. And even though I'm sure that I'm speaking to friends and with friends and I am with a friend, maybe others who shouldn't hear what we know will listen. So I'll have to guard myself and say that we have information. We are collecting it relentlessly. The fact that our soldiers are on the ground fighting Hamas in K-9. you know, house to house, tunnel to tunnel warfare, is providing us with additional information. And what we're doing is trying to collect as much as possible information in order to compile a picture that will allow us to act on that picture. What we're hearing now and what's in the making, and hopefully will be completed successfully, is the rescue, or the delivery, sorry. of Israeli hostages under a deal that has been brokered and hopefully we will see that completed successfully in at least some of the Israeli hostages that have now been held for 47 days in Hamas tunnels so maybe some of them hopefully some of them 50 or more will be reunited with their loved ones and back home in Israel but it is with a heavy heart that we make and hate-filled terrorist organization. It's always, you know, in war, it's never good choices. It's all different levels of bad. But I think that the paramount consideration here is the opportunity to bring some of the hostages home, some of the most vulnerable and sensitive hostages back home, women and children. And that is probably what guided the Israeli government when they voted on it and decided So. We will do it other ways, military ways, but at the end of this war, two things must be accomplished. One, the complete unconditional destruction of Hamas, militarily, politically, logistically, financially. And the second thing is the safe return of our hostages, hopefully alive. But if not, then we will do everything we can to get all of them home. These are two important things that will happen. before this war ends. Amen. So question for you is, who's doing the negotiate? Like on their side, so from what I understand Qatar has been a big part of this negotiation. First of all, who is Qatar negotiating with on the Hamas's side? They're negotiating with the head of Hamas that's sitting in another country somewhere? Is that who they're negotiating with? Or is Israel negotiating directly with Hamas? I wouldn't say that the Qataris are negotiating with. I think that they are negotiating on behalf of, which is an important distinction. They are... No, they're not. They are important now and useful. They're a country that enjoy significant status in the US. They're a... What's it called? And that is odd for a country that is an active supporter of terrorist organizations, Hamas included. Why would Hamas hand over the hostages? Why is the five day, I mean again, Hashem, God, please return the hostages. Whatever it takes, of course. But what is in it for them? Five day cessation of fighting, what does that give them? They get to have a five night sleep? What does that give them? listen, they're under pressure. They're under a lot of pressure. We've been at them since October the 8th. We've been firing at them from the air and since about two and a half weeks back, almost three, we've been maneuvering on the ground and taking the battle to them. They have sustained significant casualties in northern Gaza and in some other locations as well, but essentially northern Gaza. And they've been pleading for this pause, what they call a ceasefire, they've been pleading for a pause in our activity for a long time, because they are asking for this and they're using the hostages as leverage in order to buy themselves some time. Nothing that they will do will help them escape their fate. Their fate is destruction. Either they come out, surrender unconditionally, or they die in their bunkers or at the hands of our soldiers or the bombs from the air. That is the only fate that awaits them and it's important to emphasize that once we're done with the hostages, all of the Hamas seniors, wherever they are, they are dead men walking. Whether they are hiding under civilians in Gaza, in Chaniunas or in Gaza, like Yehia Sinual, the Hamas leader in Gaza is doing, the coward that he is. He's hiding behind civilians and hoping that civilians will protect him. So whether it's him or it's Mohammed Def, the military commander of Hamas, an arch terrorist with gallons of Israeli blood on his hands, them too are dead men walking, but so are Ismail Haniya and Khaled Mashal, who are not inside Gaza, they're elsewhere, living... good life in five-star hotels in Doha and in other places. All of them are dead men walking. Everybody who has ever been part of Hamas supports Hamas or has any kind of importance. And anybody who had any part in the barbaric massacre of October the 7th, they are dead men walking, and it's only a matter of time before Israel gets its hands on them. So, Wal, you know, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, are you familiar with Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe? I even visited the home in Queens. Did you? Okay, great. So he was big into many times he was completely against giving Gaza to the Palestinians. He was... I don't even like to call them Palestinians. I like to call them Arabs living in the land of Israel. He was completely against giving away one square inch of territory to anybody because, first of all, the land of Israel doesn't belong to us. It belongs to God. We don't have a right to even give it away. And he warned us that this was going to happen. And he always said whenever these wars came, finish the job. But Israel always came under political and international pressure to stop. Do you believe that that's going to happen this time? Let's, you know, I can, it doesn't matter what I believe. It matters what reality is shaped on the ground and what Israelis say and do and what the democratically elected leadership of the state of Israel understands and says and does. That's the only thing that matters. And another thing that he did mention, by the way, he said when it comes to war, you never have the politicians get involved. You always listen to the commanders of the army. They have to be the ones that are running the war, not the politicians. Well, you know, in a democratic country, it's of course a balance because we in the military serve under the guidance and the instructions provided by the war cabinet of the elected government of the state of Israel. That's how we work in the in Israel in the IDF. Of course, generals have tremendous responsibility. But at the end of the day, we serve. We serve the state of Israel. And our job is to to implement. the policy given. Now what we are focused on doing and what I recognized this time, and this is my subjective opinion, what I see on the ground and what I hear young Israelis saying, young and people my age who are not so young anymore, when I hear our amazing men and women fighting on the ground. I was in Gaza last week. I had the opportunity to go to the Shefa hospital and expose some of the lies. of Hamas that they hide weapons there. Yeah, I mean it's no surprise to anybody who listens and has an open heart and a decent mind to understand that Hamas is a I don't think that anybody cares at this point. We spoke about this before the life. Everybody already made up their mind. But yeah, so you were saying the young people in the country, the young people in the country, they're feeling for this. exactly. I was on the ground, I spoke with the brave men and women. By the way, there are women fighting in Gaza as well, but I spoke with the men and women who fight. And I was overwhelmed with their sense of duty, with the strength of belief that they carry. and with the burning desire that so many of them expressed. You know, we were sitting early morning hours or just after the sun had risen and we were inside a house waiting to go into the Schieffer Hospital. One of the soldiers took out a Tfilin case. There's a special case for what we call a combat Tfilin case for soldiers who take that. So they have it with them, but it's really like a hardened case. and they passed it around because only one guy had it but many people, many of the men wanted to Lanier Tefillin and it was a beautiful moment when they were praying and afterwards we had a good conversation about okay what's going to be done, what are we going to do and what I found so uplifting was on one hand the strength and the understanding amongst the soldiers and these are officers, but rank and file who are saying we need to get the job done in Gaza. We desperately want to find our hostages and save them and bring them back home. And we are willing to sacrifice in order to get that done. And we cannot leave Gaza before the work is completed. And that was a resounding message that I saw from so many Israeli fighters. And I've been hearing it, you know, in the general public, reflected in social media and people. say it out on the streets and I think this time is different because people understand that if we don't act differently and if we don't finish what we started we'll be inviting maybe in a few years maybe in less than that another October 7 massacre and that's something that no Israeli no Jew can accept so I think there's understanding this time but of course I have to mark my words with caution because I don't make decisions I only speak about them but I definitely hope and I feel and believe that this time we will see the job done and it's not only for our sake it's first and foremost for our sake it's first and foremost so that we can hear the beautiful sound of Jewish children playing in the backyards of their homes next to Gaza that's victory that's the immediate victory but it's not only for that this could be a great opportunity to change the Middle East and to change the dynamics and to bring hope and prosperity to Gaza as well. That's not our main business. Our main business is defending Israel, defending Israelis, and making sure that we live in a safe and protected and prosperous country. But I think that what we have now is an opportunity to change the bigger picture. And if regional players positively inclined countries in the region... Of course the United States of America being the most important country in the world and the leader of the free world gets behind this and we can change the situation in Gaza for the better for generations to come. happened to be, I know I spoke about the Lubavitcher Rebbe a few times, he said that when you finish the job it's not just good for Jews, you're saving Arabs lives as well. Because when you finally root out the evil that is there, this whole thing won't happen again and you'll save those lives. Few more questions for you. So the Palestinian Authority, the health ministry of Gaza, which is Hamas, is claiming that there's 14,000 deaths. Two questions for you. Number one is, how much of those deaths do you believe are actual Hamas fighters? Because from the numbers that they were talking about before, there's between 30 and 40,000 Hamas fighters. So how many of those are actual Hamas fighters? And how many of those? would you say are civilians? And how accurate is that number? I mean 14,000 is a big number. I mean 14,000 bodies, you would see videos and pictures that you can't hide 14,000 bodies. But there will be, if you're going after all of Hamas and you're going to kill every single Hamas terrorist, then there's going to be 30 or 40,000 bodies. That's a lot of bodies. Yeah, so let's first analyze other thing? One other thing about for the listeners about killing Hamas terrorists. According to Torah, you have a mitzvah. If somebody is trying to kill you, you have a mitzvah to kill them first. That is the moral, according to Torah, that is the moral thing to do. The world is lecturing Jews right now. is, hava lehorgecha hashkem lehorgo. Which is, the one who tries to kill you, you should rise up first and kill him. hava lehorgecha hashkem lehorgo. Yeah, so let's speak about the numbers, right? So Gaza, let's take first of all the population of Gaza. half men like the global population but a very young population so there's a lot of under 18 year olds because for many reasons in Gaza they have they make many many children and what is interesting What is interesting, in terms of the population in Gaza, to 2.3 million people, right? Half of them men, half of them women. And it's a very young population as well. Many of them are under the age of 18. And when you look at the numbers that are reported by the Gaza controlled health ministry, one age group The age group of 17 to 35 year old men, which is universally considered to be fighting age men. They're missing from the reporting and the only thing that we hear emphasized day and night and parroted by international media and by the UN, its various institutions, they're all falling over each other in order to parrot these numbers, is 14,000 people have been killed, almost all of them civilians. Men, women, children and the elderly. That's the catchphrase, that's the soundbite. Now, when you look into it, it doesn't make sense. Where are all the men? I know where all the men are. They're there and they are Hamas combatants. Many of them are Hamas combatants and many of those Hamas combatants have been killed. Many of them have been killed either in their tunnels. or on the battlefield and many of the bodies haven't been exposed yet. And I think it is appalling that so many international organizations and international media take the numbers that are disseminated by a party of a conflict that have an interest. It's not some international organization that doesn't have skin in the game. This is Hamas saying, claiming, and this is a terrorist organization, as a person with a heart. That saddens me. That saddens many in the idea. If we don't try to kill civilians. Yeah, it is. It is, it is. We don't want to kill civilians and we don't want to see houses destroyed and we don't want to see wounded civilians and children in despair. None of that is what we as a country or individuals want to see. But yeah, definitely. That is not our way. But that is the unfortunate, sad reality of fighting in urban terrain, densely populated urban terrain, and specifically fighting against an enemy that his whole system of fighting is first and foremost to have civilians above all of their military and then to hide underneath those civilians and to use everything that is supposed to be protected, like schools, mosques, churches. hospitals, ambulances, infirmaries, clinics, everything that is supposed to be not a military target, Hamas uses them. And by now we have exposed so much of all of the hospitals, the Iran-Tisi hospital, the Indonesian hospital, the Shifa hospital, and all of the other hospitals that Hamas uses underneath and within the hospital to fight against Israel. We have exposed how they fight fire rockets from UN compounds, how there are... Hamas combatants inside schools, how they are firing rockets from houses, how they're using houses, ordinary civilian houses, as staging grounds for attacks, how they hide weapons inside houses and schools and mosques. And this goes on and on and on. That is the reason why there are civilian casualties. And another reason is because Hamas has all of their tunnels underneath the civilians. And they rely on the fact that the civilians are there. And yet, as you mentioned, the media conveniently looks over this and it's only the Israelis. I want to go back to the hostages for just one moment, because right now is a critical time. I don't know when people are going to watch this. God willing, all the 50 hostages are going to be released tomorrow, or at least starting to be released tomorrow. Hopefully yes. What is that mechanism? How is that gonna work? They're gonna be transported to it. There's a safe zone. Hamas terrorists are gonna deliver them. Red Cross is gonna deliver them. What is the mechanism for that? yeah, so the mechanism is, it's sensitive and a bit intricate, but essentially Hamas will bring the hostages out of the places where they've been hiding them. Don't tell anybody, but we'll be watching. And then they will be handed over to the Red Cross. The Red Cross will take them to the transition points. which I cannot say where they are, but they will take them to pre-planned and agreed upon transition points where IDF personnel will be the first on the ground to receive the hostages. They will make initial contact and reach out to them. And our personnel has been specifically trained to do so. Again, we have to remember, we're talking about children and women, but children who have been for 47 days, how long they've been there because there's no night and day underground but they've been there for a long long time held by these monsters by Hamas underground. So first we have to you know reach out to them and make sure that they understand that they're safe, that they're in the hands of the IDF and that we're bringing them home. Then we will do a quick medical evaluation to make sure that they're alright. There will be a phone call to family members so that the hostages can... hear and understand a familiar voice and sound. And then they will be taken to medical facilities and military medical facility, and from there to hospitals, and as quickly as possible, reunited with their family. And then of course, debriefing and many other things that will have to be done. It's a process that we're going to do for the first time tomorrow. Let's hope it goes without any glitches or... complications. I'm sure that we can trust on Hamas to make things as difficult, as heart-wrenching and as emotional, badly emotional as possible. And I think that tomorrow will be another day of psychological warfare and emotional rollercoaster for the families and Am Israel in general. But we will be focused on the job and we will be there in order to receive. the hostages, bring them to safety, continue to defend ourselves in the meantime of course and the moment that this deal is successfully completed go right back to fighting where we left the fighting and continue to pummel Hamas until they are completely destroyed and until we can significantly change the security environment in the South. I know your time is valuable and I want to wrap it up. Do we have a couple more minutes or you have to go? One more question, okay. Just want to make sure I give you a good one here. Okay. Beyond the 50 hostages that are supposed to be released, is there a plan in place or discussions in place for the release of all of the hostages? or for every day of the ceasefire, they release 10 hostages. Is that confirmed? That is part of this agreement, yes, that there's an option if everything goes alright, that we have agreed upon that for every 10 hostages released, live hostages, then we will extend the pause in the military operations for another day. That has been agreed upon, but there's also a cap to that. And so the total span of this agreement can be no more than 10 days. That's according to the government what they voted on. And if it needs to be expanded they will have to vote on it again. That is in place in order to not to allow Hamas to drag out this entire situation and use it for their advantage. But at the end of the day it is of paramount importance to get all of the hostages home. That is what we will be focused on doing. And hopefully in the near and foreseeable future, by the will of God, we will see Hamas destroyed, the hostages home, and all of our enemies see what happened to Hamas and Gaza after they had the audacity and the brutality to attack Israel, kill our civilians, and take our people hostage, rape, burn, and mutilate Israelis as they did on October the 7th. The whole world and especially our enemies will see what fate awaits those who do that. And that should be a lesson for everybody. Amis Rai Ochai and most importantly, Mashiach Neu. Thank you for your time. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Konrykos, thank you so much for everything you're doing. We all appreciate you. We're behind you. We support you. Thank you for all the good work that you're doing for Israel, the Jewish community. God bless you. Kol ha'kavod. Thank you. that your listeners get strengthened and hear the important message that you have. After all, what matters most isn't the bombs or the airplanes or the tanks or the guns. What matters most is the spirit. And that we have and that will carry us to victory. Thank you.