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Menachem Rosensaft

Kudos to President Trump for making the Gaza ceasefire possible

I'm no Trump supporter, but if he hadn't read Netanyahu the riot act, the Israel-Hamas war would probably still be in full force.
Then former US president Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, July 26, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Then former U.S. president Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, July 26, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Kudos to US President Donald J. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, for making clear to Benjamin Netanyahu in the weeks before Trump returned to the White House that the Israeli prime minister would not be allowed to continue obstructing a Gaza ceasefire and the freeing of hostages just so that he could cling to power.

Now that the first three of the hostages held captive by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad since October 7, 2023, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher, have been reunited with their families, and there is at least the possibility that 30 more will follow in the next several weeks, it is appropriate to go over the bidding, as it were. Who are the protagonists and who are the antiheroes of this saga?

It is no exaggeration to say that but for Trump and Witkoff, no ceasefire agreement would have been reached and Romi, Emily, and Doron would still be in the hell they were forced to endure for more than 15 months. I am not downplaying the critical roles played by President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Brett McGurk, the Biden administration’s point person in the complex negotiations that involved not just the Israelis and Hamas but Qatar and Egypt. Biden, Blinken, and their colleagues did everything in their power to bring the fighting in Gaza to at least a temporary halt and rescue those hostages who were still alive. Without their tireless efforts, we wouldn’t have gotten the Israel government and Hamas to be amenable to any meeting of the minds. But the stark reality is that but for Trump and Witkoff unceremoniously reading Netanyahu the riot act, the Israel-Hamas war would most probably still be in full force.

Biden, Blinken, and their team have been far too respectful, far too diplomatic, far too accommodating in their attempts to prod Netanyahu and his far right government into some semblance of flexibility. They showed far too much deference to Netanyahu who lied, prevaricated, sleazed shamelessly throughout the negotiations, secure in his belief that Biden would not blow up in his face. Trump has no such reluctance, and he speaks in a brass knuckles language – such as his comment to NBC News the other day that the Gaza ceasefire “better hold” – that Netanyahu not only understands but fears.

Chuck Colson, Special Counsel in the Nixon White House and often referred to as that president’s hatchet man, was reputed to have had a sign above his West Wing office desk that read, “When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” That seems to be the most effective, and least convoluted, way of getting Netanyahu’s undivided attention.

Netanyahu used every arrow in his quiver to get his American supporters to vote for Trump this past November. Mazel Tov. They got what they asked for: a US president who truly puts “America First” in every sense of that term and who believes that an end to the Gaza war is very much in the interest of the United States.

The tragedy, of course, is that the deal that has now been agreed upon had been on the table for months, but Netanyahu’s craven political bunker mentality forced Romi, Emily, Doron, and their fellow hostages to continue to endure unspeakable conditions in Gaza just so the fascist and quasi-fascist members of his government wouldn’t torpedo him from office. There can be no question that the hostages’ suffering was caused by Hamas, but Netanyahu must be held accountable for the lengthy delay in bringing that suffering to an end, and for allowing any number of hostages to be killed in the meantime.

As readers of my various columns know, I am not a Trump supporter. I very much wanted Vice President Harris to win the election on November 5, and I continue to have deep reservations regarding Trump’s political ideology and agenda. This said, I also want President Trump to succeed, and I will be delighted if my worst fears turn out to be unfounded.

If President Trump and his foreign and national security team can bring about a sea change in Israeli and Palestinian attitudes toward each other, they will deserve the appreciation and gratitude not just of war-weary Israelis and Palestinians, but of all who want the State of Israel to once again be a source of hope and light rather than the target for global vitriol.

I write as a Zionist who believes in the vision of the State of Israel as both a homeland for the Jewish people and a vibrant democracy for all its citizens and inhabitants, Jews and non-Jews alike.

I also write as an American Jew who teaches at two Ivy League law schools and as such am only too keenly aware of the surging hatred toward not just Israel but Jews generally that has been surging on our university and college campuses ever since the Hamas carnage on October 7.

Thus, if the incoming Trump administration mandates its Department of Education leadership to prioritize Title VI enforcement against those educational institutions that have allowed their Jewish students to be targeted and discriminated against, that, too, would be a welcome development.

Elections have consequences, and President Trump’s election to a second term is no exception to this rule. The hallmark of a loyal — as opposed to obstructionist — opposition is a willingness to look for common ground wherever possible, even if credit for success ultimately goes to the other side.

The overriding goal in the Middle East must be the ongoing search for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has cost and is costing the lives of far too many Israelis and Palestinians. This perforce will require Israeli recognition of what President Biden terms the Palestinians’ “legitimate concerns.” And at the same time, a non-terrorist Palestinian leadership must be willing to do the same for Israel’s equally legitimate concerns, paramount of which are its security concerns.

A two-state solution to the conflict seems utopian at this time — the mutual hatreds on both sides are too deeply rooted and too overwhelming to allow for empathy to the other’s anguish. And yet, such a two-state solution or its functional equivalent is still the only viable way forward.

Assuming that the present ceasefire continues to be implemented, and assuming further that those hostages scheduled to be freed from their horrific captivity in Gaza are indeed released, President Trump has the unique opportunity to get both sides to at least start thinking about – and start talking to each other about – a future without continued bloodshed. The fact that Saudi Arabia will not join the Abraham Accords unless and until the Palestinians are given a path to legitimate self-determination is an additional incentive.

Abba Eban, Israel’s legendary longtime foreign minister, used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum as a conflict not between right and wrong but between two rights. The way forward, any constructive way forward, will require leaders on both sides who are prepared to reach that conclusion by looking beyond their narrow political self-interest.

If President Trump can bring about such an awareness on both sides, he just might be the catalyst for at least the beginning of hope, in which case I will be among the first to congratulate him.

About the Author
Menachem Z. Rosensaft is adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School and lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School. He is the author of Burning Psalms: Confronting Adonai after Auschwitz, which will be published by Ben Yehuda Press on January 27, 2025.
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