Not a Good Day for Israel

Yesterday was not a good day for Israel.

For sure everyone was happy that Edan Alexander, the last remaining living American hostage was finally freed from Hamas captivity.  It is impossible to even imagine the hell that he experienced.  Likewise, the pain, frustration, anger, disappointment, sleepless nights and 17 months of living in limbo was a surreal experience for his parents and other members of the family whose patience and dedication was finally rewarded with Edan’s release.

Of course, we have to be grateful to US President Trump and his emissary, Steve Witkoff for their involvement in making this happen.

That’s the good news. But there was a lot of bad news as well.

• 58 hostages remain, 38 of whom are probably no longer alive and among the dead are also four Americans. Qatar, who has been hosting the Hamas leadership in plush surroundings in Doha could have arranged to get them out as well given their considerable support for Hamas.  Why didn’t Trump also insist on that as part of the deal?
• In by-passing Israel in this whole process and negotiating a deal directly with Hamas (who we will remember massacred 1,200 of us on one day in 2023) the White House signaled that there is real daylight in our relationship with the US. This is not a good situation given our continued dependence on a supply of US military materiel in support of our war effort.  We need to learn from this.
• In addition, with the US negotiating directly with Hamas, Hamas has gained significant stature which makes our relationship with them more difficult. We need to remember that Hamas is not a sovereign political entity.  Rather it is a terrorist organization which took control of part of an area (i.e. Gaza) of a legitimate political entity (i.e. the Palestinian Authority) which was created as part of an international peace negotiation (i.e. the Oslo Accords).  This “gift” of legitimacy to Hamas by the US was more than Hamas could ever have hoped for….and the price was simply the release of one American hostage.  Talk about knowing how to strike a bargain, wow!!!!
• Finally, the White House, after 50 days of non-stop attacks on the Houtis in Yemen, announced a limited cease fire. The US will stop bombarding Yemen in return for which Yemen will stop attacking western ships but…..Israeli ships will remain targets.  Makes one wonder about this friend we have in White House, does it not?

It should be clear to every thinking person that the US administration has no taste for war and that we will have to ensure our survival on our own.  To this writer that means making any deal with Hamas that brings all the hostages back ASAP after which we go back for as long as it takes and finish the job.

Israel’s current plans seem to be to hold off on any further escalation in Gaza until after Trump’s visit to the region ends later this week. Not sure what we can expect but the general feeling remains that Israel is off the US playing field for the moment while the US president pursues his Arab World dreams.

Let’s hope they don’t turn into nightmares for us.