Jonathan S. Tobin
JNS, Jan. 15, 2025
“But as much as Israeli citizens and decent people everywhere will rejoice if any of the hostages are freed as a result of these negotiations, the motivation here seems to be primarily one of optics before the inauguration and start of a second Trump presidency.”
For most supporters of Israel, Jan. 20 and the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration couldn’t come soon enough.
President Joe Biden’s weakness and appeasement of Iran, as well as ambivalent policies and public scolding of the Jewish state, have become routine since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 dead and 251 taken captive into the Gaza Strip. The fallout from that assault has undermined the alliance between the two countries in the past 15 months. The military successes of the Israel Defense Forces against Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon during the last year were the result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s courageous decision to reject the terrible advice that he was getting from Biden, and his foreign and security policy teams.
But it appears that the first foreign policy blunder of Trump’s second administration may have occurred even before his inauguration takes place on Monday.
The hostage release/ceasefire deal that was just announced between Israel and Hamas may have been largely the result of Trump’s blunt threats against the terrorists and their allies, coupled with pressure placed on Netanyahu by the new U.S. Middle East envoy, Steven Witcoff. If, contrary to its past record, Hamas doesn’t blow up the agreement at the last minute, the once and future president will have gotten what he wanted. ….SOURCE