The Boehler-Hamas honeymoon behind Israel’s back

The direct talks between the Trump administration and Hamas have nothing to do with “not being an agent of Israel”, as stated by US envoy Adam Boehler in an attempt to justify the move and counter Israeli criticism abut, they are rather a very wrong move that confers political legitimacy and recognition to a vicious terrorist organization that should have instead been marginalized immediately after the October 7^th massacre. Hamas should be on its way to being eradicated but, unfortunately, due to arguable political and strategic decisions on behalf of both, the Israeli government and the two US administrations, it is still running Gaza.

Hamas’ main benefactor, and political agent in the Middle East, Qatar, should have never been allowed to act as the main mediator, and there should have been no mediation in the first place, but in Washington they see it differently. It is not by coincidence that shortly after taking office, Trump sent Steven Witkoff to Doha and pressured Israel to cut a “deal” with Hamas.

However, by having direct talks with Hamas, the Trump administration crossed a line of no return and, even worse, it was done behind Israel’s back, since in Washington they were very well aware of Israel’s opposition to such a move.

Legitimizing Hamas and terrorism

It is not an ideological position on Israel’s part, but rather a pragmatic one. The talks between Boehler and Hamas broke a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with terrorist organizations. Indeed, Trump defended his administration’s decision for direct talks:

“We’re not doing anything in terms of Hamas. We’re not giving cash,” he continued. “You have to negotiate. There’s a difference between negotiating and paying. We want to get these people out.”

However, these statements indicate a lack of understanding regarding the terrorist factor. The phenomenon of terrorism cannot be measured in terms of cash, as if it were a real estate business or something similar.

Negotiations incentivize terrorists to repeat the atrocities committed, perhaps raising the stakes, aware that the strategy is functional to their objectives and their cause. Moreover, negotiating allows the terrorist organization to acquire political legitimacy, elevating it to a legitimate interlocutor, both at a national and international level.

Unfortunately, in Washington they seem to be confused about what Hamas really is, while Boehler seems unable to embrace the correct terminology, referring to Israeli hostages as “prisoners,” and using the term “hostages” to describe Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israel, therefore adopting a rhetoric common with Hamas.

Boehler even went beyond and claimed that he wants to identify with the “human elements of those people (Hamas)”, and even referred to officials in the terrorist organization as: “They’re actually guys like us. They’re pretty nice guys”, as reported by the Times of Israel on March 9.

Let’s not forget, Hamas is a terrorist organization that perpetrated the worst pogrom against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. You cannot ask Hamas “What is the endgame that you want here?”, because that implies legitimizing terrorism, giving it a choice. Unfortunately, these statements were really made.

“America first, Trump first”

Boehler contradicted himself by saying that the Trump administration is working for the release of all hostages, Israelis included, and that the Israeli public should not fear that the US will forget about them while at the same time stating that the US “is not an agent of Israel”, and that “We (the US) have specific interests at play, and we did communicate back and forth (with Hamas)”.

It is more than evident that such meetings mainly focused on securing the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, along with the bodies of American-Israeli hostages Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein.

The objective was confirmed by Witkoff: “Edan Alexander is very important to us — as all the hostages are — but Edan Alexander is an American, and he’s injured, so he’s a top priority for us”.

Boehler tried to explain that these were only initial discussions with Hamas and that nothing would be finalized without Israel’s approval, but at the same time, he also stated that he did not care about Dermer’s opposition to the US-Hamas direct talks behind Israel’s back, adding that he respected and understood his position, but “we also have our own interests in the US”.

After all, didn’t the Trump administration hide the negotiations from the Israeli side? Therefore, why should Israelis believe Boehler in the first place? Such a situation cannot avoid raising an issue of trust between Israel and the Trump administration, since the latter’s objective seems clear: obtaining the release of the American hostage who is still alive in Gaza, and the bodies of the four deceased.

Trump wants to boost his image domestically and internationally; obtaining their release would work in such a direction. Let’s not forget that as Trump took office, he immediately pressured the Israeli government to accept a deleterious deal that beyond the “humanitarian goal” of obtaining the release of some hostages, also had the purpose of presenting the newly elected US president as able to achieve what his predecessor, Joe Biden, did not.

He opened talks with Iran and Russia in an attempt to present himself as “the peacemaker president” who wants to make “deals” with everyone, as if the world was some sort of business market. However, there is a huge difference between terrorists and potential business partners. You don’t bring terrorists to the negotiating table; you hunt them down. Indeed, America’s interests come first, or perhaps,Trump’s interests come first, no matter at the expense of whom: Israel, Ukraine, or the Iranian dissidents.

A potentially disastrous outcome

As if it weren’t enough, the possible outcome outlined by Boehler is even more worrying than his statements: a five- to ten-year truce with Israel, during which the terror group would disarm and forego political power in Gaza:

“Hamas “suggested exchanging all prisoners and a five-year to ten-year truce where Hamas would lay down all weapons and where the US, as well as other countries, would ensure that there are no tunnels, there’s nothing taken on the military side, and that Hamas is not involved in politics going forward.” Boehler even called the proposal “not a bad first offer.”

Why Boehler would even remotely think he could trust Hamas remains a mystery. On March 10^th, Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, strongly criticized the US envoy:

“Boehler “acted on his own accord” in order to free the captive soldier Idan Alexander, who is a US citizen. Boehler was acting “naively”, and the plan he proposed in Hamas’s name, whereby the organization agreed to disarm and return all hostages in return for a 5-10 year ceasefire, was “utter nonsense,”” as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

It is also worth highlighting that Boehler told CNN that US President Donald Trump had signed off on his talks with Hamas ahead of time, but then appeared to walk the claim back, clarifying that the pre-approval came from “a group of folks” in the White House. It would be interesting to know who these “folks” are.

From what has emerged so far, it is clear that Israel’s interests regarding its own security and those of the Trump administration are increasingly divergent. At this point, Israel must think on its own how to resolve the issue and the primary objective can only be one: to force the terrorists to release all the hostages at once and eradicate Hamas from Gaza once and for all.

As already said back in January on this same blog, Hamas has no interest in releasing all the hostages, because they are the only leverage the terrorist organization has against Israel, its life insurance. The release process will go on for months, maybe years and, in the meantime,  Hamas will ask for guarantees regarding its permanence and political role in Gaza. Despite what they may tell the Trump administration, survival is at stake and Hamas will do anything to achieve it. Indeed, in Washington, they must be well aware of this.