End of war depends on Trump, Saudi deal

Opinion: Incoming US president believes the hostages are alive but views the deal as a stepping stone toward a Nobel Peace Prize, particularly after a potential Saudi peace agreement; PM and far-right allies mislead supporters by pledging Hamas would be eliminated

A new era of cruelty began on October 7, 2023. The atrocities and the number of victims set a new standard. We are in the midst of this era as evidenced in the hours of trepidation while Hamas failed to deliver the names of the first three hostages to be freed.
A democracy that failed to protect its citizens cannot abandon them in enemy captivity. It cannot exhibit bravado in the face of those abandoned, crying for help from their shelters, as none came.
A compound prepared to receive hostages
(Video: IDF)
It is painful and hard to see murderers go free. Even more dangerous and lethal to tell Israelis that if they were to be captured, they would be on their own. It would be one thing if such a message was part of some great strategy of change in the Middle East, that would bring security back. But the government has presented no such plan.
Those who believe the deal reached should have been rejected, were not willing to speak truth to the families of the hostages and to tell them that Israel had decided that their sons and daughters should die. And on what altar? An endless battle against Hamas and no real plan to achieve victory.
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נשיא ארה"ב דונלד טראמפ
נשיא ארה"ב דונלד טראמפ
Donald Trump
(Photo: Cheney Orr/ Reuters)
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מחבלים בדיר אל בלח
מחבלים בדיר אל בלח
Hamas terrorists celebrate the cease-fire in Gaza
(Photo: Bashar Taleb / AFP)
Over the past few days, Trump's role in securing the deal has become increasingly clear. His special envoy Steve Witkoff who was dispatched to the region was instructed by the incoming president not to return without a deal.
Credit should be given to Miriam Adelson who donated massively to Trump's campaign. An official said that without her there may not have been a deal. As was reported, Trump had to ensure that hostages were alive and that he alone could secure their release. The president-elect doubted that survival was possible in the Hamas tunnels and torture by the terrorists. Adelson led him to understand reality. Trump's people said Adelson and the president-elect share a mutual respect and she has the advantage of knowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu well.
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תיעוד מנאומו של טראמפ
תיעוד מנאומו של טראמפ
Miriam Adelson with Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign
(Photo: AP)
An official in the incoming Trump administration called me on Friday to ask if the government meeting had ended. "If you carry on with the war, and Hamas must be eliminated," he said, "we will totally understand." Minutes later another source, involved in the next White House, which will be involved in the second phase of the deal, said Trump would not allow the war to resume before the second phase is complete. Both Trump allies had contradicting predictions.
When I asked the second source how he saw things playing out he paused for a moment and then said: "It is no secret that the Trump administration is actively working to enlist Democrat senators to support a comprehensive deal with Saudi Arabia. The special majority votes are not available at the moment. What has that to do with Gaza and hostage releases in the second phase? I asked. A normalization deal will include agreements on who will govern Gaza and an end to the war.
A member of the Republican Party told me to look at the Democrat votes. When they thought a Saudi-Israeli deal could be attributed to them, they were willing to support it, including providing Riyadh with nuclear weapons. Now that Trump would receive credit for such a deal, they will block it, even at the cost of the war continuing.
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מליאת הכנסת
מליאת הכנסת
Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset
(Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg / AP)
The new president may turn his attention to China, the deportation of millions of illegal migrants and the occupation of Greenland. But if he hopes to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the second phase of the deal must be implemented. That is cause for hope for the families of the hostages.
The far-right in Israel is at a loss. Other than stating clearly that the hostages are to be sacrificed, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did everything he could to get Netanyahu's guarantee that the negotiations would fail. On Saturday he said in a statement that Gaza is unfit for habitation and will remain that way. Needless to say, such total destruction was not an objective in the war or in accordance with international law. But as far as Smotrich is concerned, Hauge be damned and the same goes for those IDF soldiers and commanders who are being hunted down when they travel abroad. Innocent civilians be damned too, and the hostages.
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הצהרה לתקשורת של השר לביטחון לאומי איתמר בן גביר
הצהרה לתקשורת של השר לביטחון לאומי איתמר בן גביר
Itamar Ben-Gvir announces his departure from the coalition over the cease-fire deal
(Photo: Alex Gamburg)
Without military pressure and the successes of the troops in northern Gaza, Hamas would not have agreed to release hostages but there would not be a deal without a withdrawal of forces from the Strip.
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The discussion on the dangers of releasing Palestinian terrorists is valid and important to have. Some 80% of those who were freed in previous deals return to terror. But that is not what has motivated Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in their opposition to the release of hostages. They opt to misguide the public. in July, Smotrich said in a post that Hamas was collapsing, and the fighting must continue. Six months later, Sinwar was killed but over 100 IDF soldiers fell in Gaza alone and thousands of Palestinians, terrorists and civilians, died too and Hamas remains standing.
What Israel now needs is a real plan that would prevent Hamas from governing the enclave. An internationally coordinated strategy. We owe a debt to those who were held in the darkness of the Hamas tunnels. We owe it to the families of the fallen soldiers, killed in defense of the country and we owe it to ourselves.
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