All The Hostages

By Larry Gordon

Ben Shapiro made the point on Fox News Monday morning that the war or the crisis or whatever we call the situation in Gaza today can end if the leaders in Qatar tell the Palestinians that their support of the terror group is over and all the hostages must be released today.

On Sunday, as he left his summer residence in New Jersey, President Trump told the gathered reporters that most of the hostages have already been released and the agenda (and the hope) this week is to get the remaining hostages released shortly.

Now, that sounds great. But it’s not good enough.

We always hear about the toughness and resilience of the Jewish people and that might be true, but the hostages still being held by Hamas for over 600 days are still human beings with families who are suffering through this brutal separation, and they must be released now. They have already demonstrated their toughness and resilience. Now it’s time to bring them home.

It’s additionally important that we don’t overlook the fact that this week marks Bibi’s third visit to the White House since Trump took over last January. And when reflecting on the table tennis type relationship that exists between the U.S. and Israel—and that goes back a long way—there was always an imbalance and unevenness on one side or the other.

That means that in the past 20 or so years, when Bibi was Prime Minister, he was challenged during those times when the U.S. had presidents like Joe Biden or Barack Obama, who suffered from an anti-Israel bias, and it is not difficult to underestimate what it was like to deal with those two presidents and still have an Israel that is intact and standing.

It was like a game of ping pong. In other words, the majority of the American people and even both Houses of Congress were behind Israel. But as we now know, it was Obama and then Biden who at their core were not interested in Israel’s well-being.

With Trump and Bibi, those of us who live and breathe Israel, those with children and family there, those who possess a deep and genuine concern for all of Israel, there is now a chance and an opportunity to let out a sigh of relief.

There were a series of meetings between Monday and Wednesday evening between Bibi, President Trump, and some of his administration’s key foreign policy people. Most of the meetings, like the Monday night dinner, were private and did not include access to the press. And there was a good reason for that. A significant portion of the legacy media is reflexively anti-Israel. Inviting them to question the President and Prime Minister would most likely have had the motivation of moving the focus of the meeting from the goals they were intending to accomplish.

At a hale and hearty 79, Trump is unlike any other president in terms of his commitment to Israel and his commitment to long-lasting peace in the Middle East. Bibi is here for the third time in six months for a purpose. With past presidents, regardless of their age or experience, the crux of their objective regarding Middle Eastern foreign policy was the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, which would have to come, inevitably, at the expense of Israel. But that is not the case with Mr. Trump.

The focus here is to change the frame of reference and vision for the Middle East. Indeed, the Arab armies and terror groups have been repeatedly defeated by Israel. But that is not a good enough reason to want to finally sign peace agreements. The components of a future peace deal, especially the one that is being put in place at the Trump-Netanyahu meetings this week, has to be about improving the lives of the millions of people who live in the region.

That means that all those corrupt leaders have to be exiled one way or another. To date, these corrupt leaders believed that the nature of their leadership was to fight and murder Jews and destroy Israel. That mindset can only be changed when they are no longer present in the region. That means that one way or another, they have to be shown the door and that departure cannot be soon enough.

The other day, a reporter said to Messrs. Trump and Netanyahu that even if their plans come to fruition, it may not result in the long dreamed of Palestinian state. Netanyahu responded that if creating such a state translates into a threat on any level to Israel, then such a state cannot be allowed to exist. Pressed further on whether a partial or incomplete state of this nature would be problematic, Trump turned to Netanyahu to respond, which he did by saying that if that were the case, then it is too bad. He added that Israel’s firm commitment is to Never Again and he added, “Never Again is Now.”

The failed Secretary of State under President Obama, former Senator John Kerry, has stated on many occasions that there can be no progress toward peace in the Middle East without the creation of a Palestinian State. Kerry has been proven wrong time and time again. But that hasn’t stopped him from insisting that his formula is the only workable solution.

Additionally, the other night it was good to see our good friend, Ambassador Mike Huckabee sitting at the dinner table with the U.S. delegation prior to their meeting with Netanyahu and his team. The U.S. Ambassador has always been an unwavering and strong supporter of Israel. Mr. Huckabee has made it clear that among other issues, he supports the annexation of Judea and Samaria and its legal incorporation into Israel.

A reporter asked Mr. Trump about his position, but the president was non-committal on the issue. What that really means is that unlike other presidents over the years, he did not discount the possibility or insist that the territories need to be part of a “somewhere over the rainbow” Palestinian state. Today, for the first time in 57 years, it is possible that over the next year or two, Israel will have final legal borders that will incorporate Judea and Samaria. If that is not satisfactory to some of the Arab world, and even the international community as represented by the UN, then as Netanyahu indicated at the dinner meeting: “That is just too bad.”

It is very good to see that finally both the leadership of the U.S. and Israel are on the same page. Writing these words, I can recall days not too long ago when we had situations where Joe Biden refused to meet Bibi in the Oval Office because it created an image that looked like the U.S. and Israel were working on the same wavelength. Biden may have not minded that, but his previous boss and handler, Obama, and his aides were certainly against it.

The foreign policy objective was to demonstrate that there was increasing “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel. This awful strategic image is what emboldened and encouraged terrorists and enemy states like Iran. It was a terrible and even murderous signal to send. What is made even clearer by these diplomatic moves was the Obama-Biden-Kerry idea that Israel had to be reduced from its already small size, with even more land dedicated to the creation of a new Arab state, this one known as Palestine.

The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 was going to afford the Palestinians a test case opportunity to run their own mini-state with a population of around 2 million. The experiment was an abject failure. The only natural resource that was developed and exported from Gaza was murder.

The misguided idea of evacuating Gaza in the interest of peace came from the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. At the time, he was in his late 70s (about 77), and although he was known as a warrior in his lifetime, he wanted to go out as a “man of peace.” This was a turning point for Israel in the direction of defeat, with the momentum on the pathway to destruction.

Having endured eight years of the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish Obama, a leader that Alan Dershowitz characterized as having a “deep hatred of Israel,” I was encouraged that Israel would one day overcome him and we would be triumphant. However, October 7 was a day of difficulty and defeat. The Trump election was a turning point in the direction of victory, though it was hard to see and we are not out of the woods yet.

This week’s meeting with Netanyahu and Trump in the aftermath of the combined U.S.-Israel destruction and obliteration of the Iranian nuclear threat was definitely a turning point. Hopefully, the meetings centered on getting our hostages home and ridding the region of the Hamas terrorist threat permanently.

The Trump-Netanyahu teams project an image of indefatigability. Just a few weeks ago, a few of my grandchildren were planning on spending the summer in camp and then after that yeshiva and seminary in Israel. No one was sure which direction this conflict was going to go. But here we are. They are over in Israel and planning on attending yeshiva and seminary for the fall. I would have hated to see them lose out on those opportunities. Right now, they are loving every moment, baruch Hashem.

It’s about peace through strength. I’m sure you’ve noticed that President Trump has begun thanking G-d pretty often of late. It looks like he’s bringing Bibi along with him because he too has begun saying it time and again—Baruch HaShem.

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.