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Stanley M. Rosenblatt

Trump and the Hostages

After Trump won the election in November, he said on several occasions that unless all the hostages were released by the time he was inaugurated on January 20, 2025. There would be “All hell to pay”.

That threat was great news to the hostages and to all Israelis.  President Trump never said a word about releasing terrorists in exchange for the hostages.  He also never said a word about the hostages being released gradually, in increments.  No – they all had to be released by January 20. He was very clear about that!

Unfortunately, the threat was a bluff.  In the world of Manhattan high-end real estate, bluffing (lying) is a given.  American journalists are so weak that no one asked Trump the obvious question – WHAT EXACTLY WILL YOU DO IF THE HOSTAGES ARE NOT RETURNED? To his credit, Trump grants interviews and he answers questions at press conferences. How about this question which any authentic journalist would ask?

I know you have said that there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages are not released by the time you are inaugurated.  You certainly would not send our troops into Gaza – you would not bomb Gaza since Israel has been doing that for months.

So my question to you is – would you bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities if Hamas ignored your threat?

I am 100 percent certain that President Trump would not answer that question directly.

The great irony is that if Trump had threatened to bomb Iran, I believe that Hamas would have turned over all the hostages and without a single terrorist being released.  Iran would have pressured them to do so.  The empty threat resulted in Israel getting a terrible deal.

Trump sent his golfing buddy the billionaire real estate mogul, Steve Witkoff, to Israel to pressure Netanyahu to accept the deal.  As always, Israel folded under pressure from their wonderful ally.

How degrading to be pressured by a person whose only qualification was his friendship with Trump. Trump proved his threat was a bluff when he pressured Israel’s prime minister to accept a lousy deal. And you know who announced the deal? The Prime Minister of Qatar. Neither he nor Egypt’s mediator gave a damn about the continuing suffering of the hostages.

On January 20 three female hostages were set free.  Yes – three out of approximately 100.  The first phase of the ceasefire agreement, the so-called truce is to last 42 days.  A total of 33 hostages are to be released in increments during that period in exchange for many hundreds of terrorists.

At the end of the 42 days, the two sides will be negotiating about the remaining 70 (approximately) hostages.  Perhaps a third of that number are no longer alive.  Many mangled bodies, many decomposed bodies would be returned.  Great deal President Trump!

As bad as it is there would have been no deal absent Trump’s threat, and he wanted to take full credit for it.  When Biden proposed a ceasefire back in May 2024 Hamas ignored him.

On Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, he said that this great accomplishment –

“Could have only happened as a result of my historic victory in November”.

When Biden was asked who should get credit for the agreement he answered with a smirk-

“Is that a joke?”

Netanyahu knew who was responsible and he thanked Trump profusely.

It was shameful that he felt that he had to play this political game. Trump had been furious with Netanyahu for congratulating Biden on his 2020 victory – The “victory” that Trump always maintained was fraudulent.

Netanyahu later thanked Biden but with much less enthusiasm. Yes – the wonderful world of politics.

On January 18 the Israeli cabinet approved the deal. Thousands of Hamas members were celebrating in Gaza. Their ranks were replenished by new volunteers to replace those killed by Israel. All Palestinians!

During the months of Israeli bombing attacks no Gazan said to Hamas –

“Israel is destroying Gaza, our people, your people are dying – please return the hostages and save Arab lives – your attack on October 7 has only resulted in a tragedy to your fellow Palestinians.”

Instead of that Gazans were celebrating alongside the thousands of Hamas members. Israel allowed Hamas to build an underground city and somehow felt so secure that there was no military presence on the border while a musical festival next door was underway.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, in protesting the deal took his Jewish Power Party out of the coalition government. With the removal of their 6 seats the coalition had a paper-thin margin of 62 seats in the Knesset.

Will the coalition survive?

Will the rest of the hostages be released?

Will the Netanyahu pledge to totally destroy Hamas ever be fulfilled?

Had Trump’s threat been carried out, Israel could have prevailed.

About the Author
Stanley Rosenblatt, with his wife and law-partner Susan, challenged the Tobacco Industry’s half- century of lies resulting in the largest jury-verdict in American history – $145 billion. They also managed to raise nine children and have been blessed with over thirty grandchildren. Stanley hosted “Israeli Diary” on PBS and his interviews included Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Ahrens and Shimon Peres. He is the author of six books – most recently: “America: What is the Matter with Us?” (2024)
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