Trump’s hellfire threat & the lopsided Israel-Hamas deal
The barter trade between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the name of a ceasefire deal is not only insane…it is a pernicious miasma of moral dilemma which will hang on our collective consciences for a long time. For forty two days of the first phase, the emotional and psychological life of the Israeli nation will be held hostage by terrorists through a staggered exchange of innocent hostages with convicted Jihadist murderers.
Negotiating with terrorists is in the first place an abominable act. Diplomacy with deranged killers legitimizes their evil and elevates them to the realm of rational actors. Such recognition presents a huge psychological victory for terrorists and their backers. Terrorists must be fought and comprehensively defeated.
The ancestry of the ceasefire deal can be traced to the morally bankrupt Biden administration which consistently sought to draw a moral parallel between Israel and terrorists since the October 7th massacre. Then came the Trump threat of unleashing hell in the Middle East if hostages would not have been freed by January 20th, the date of his inauguration. The Trump ambiguous threat nudged Joe Biden into a popularity contest on who should take credit for the ceasefire deal. Subsequently, Biden exploited his incumbency and resurrected a lopsided, pro Hamas deal. On the other hand, Donald Trump was keen on exploiting the deal and portray the same as a consequence of his threat. According to Trump, the release of hostages should be seen in the context of historical parallel to the release of American hostages held by Iran during the transition from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan in the early 80s. Reagan had threatened Iran to release the Americans by the time he was sworn into office or else…. However, unlike the current scenario, Iran freed all the Americans without demanding anything in return.
The ego contest between Biden and Trump placed Bibi Netanyahu between a rock and a hard place. Netanyahu found himself between the hammer of an incoming friend of Israel and the anvil of an outgoing frEnemy who had placed arms embargo on Israel during war time. It’s believed that Trump’s promise to release weapons to Israel, especially the bunker busting bombs and free hand to sort out the Iranian nuclear breweries made Bibi accept the deal half-heartedly. Without “behind the tent” clauses between Netanyahu and Trump, the deal amounts to nothing more than capitulation to terrorism.
All men and women of good conscience would want to see all the hostages home now. But at what price? Why should one innocent Israeli be exchanged with between 33 and 50 convicted and unrepentant murderers? What is the rationale? What is the logic of exchanging one body of a murdered Israeli with tens of satanic criminals? In my view, terrorists should never benefit from crime. When you reward evil, it gets worse. The current deal is a great incentive to Hamas and other Islamist terrorist clubs in Palestine and beyond to treat the crime of kidnapping Israelis as modus operandi. The principle of “never negotiating with terrorists” must be reinstated and adhered to with unequivocal reverence.
One of the three Israeli ladies released by the Hamas in exchange with 99 criminals is without some fingers after being ripped by a terrorist’s bullet!! Many hostages have been brutalized, dehumanized and murdered in Gaza. Ironically, the convicted dangerous Arab criminals are treated with kid gloves in Israeli prisons. They are treated like five star guests…well fed, taught and trained in various disciplines and crafts. The medical care Israel gives to convicted Palestinian terrorists remains a pipe dream to citizens of many countries. Yahyah Sinwah, the Lucifer associate who planned and executed the October 7th massacre was treated of brain tumor by a Jewish doctor while serving sentence in Israeli prison. Sinwah was freed in the Gilad Shalit horse trade when a thousand terrorists were freed in exchange for one soldier.
The celebrations being witnessed in Arab areas in Palestine after release of murderers can only be heart-breaking. Israel’s value and appreciation of human life is exemplary. Yet, when you release thousands of killers for a few hostages, you put more lives in immediate and future danger.
Most of the Palestinian terrorists are alumni of Israeli jails. When they graduate from prisons through exchange deals, they are accorded heroes’ treatment in Gaza and West Bank, aka Judea and Samaria. In fact, their families start receiving monthly salaries immediately after they get arrested or if they die in suicide attacks. The policy of fattening Jews killers in Israeli jails is clearly unwise, unsustainable and contradicts the language of the Middle East. Going forward, the Knesset must necessarily amend and/or enact laws which ensure those found guilty of terrorism and other capital offenses are given the death sentence. That way, terrorists will not only lack bargaining chips, the economy will be relieved the burden of keeping killers in probation as well.
President Donald Trump should not be allowed to forget that his threat was not in relation to a few hostages. His threat was not predicated on reviving the cowardly and stale Biden’s ceasefire deals too. The threat covered all the hostages and the expiry date of the threat is January 20th 2025. His word is his bond and he must actualize the threat now. In my view, the threat was much more pronounced and comprehensive and should therefore override the deal. All hostages must be released at once.