No sooner had the announcement been released that soldier and Hamas-held hostage Edan Alexander was going to be released from captivity in Gaza after more than 580 days, than the spins began proliferating in earnest.
Alexander, the last living hostage with American citizenship, was received in an emotional reunion with his family on Monday after a deal was reached between the US and Hamas for his release.
Like Russian President Vladimir Putin did earlier this year, when he intervened for the release of Russian-Israeli hostage Sasha Troufanov from Hamas captivity, US President Donald Trump has done the same for Alexander, who grew up in New Jersey and made aliyah at the age of 18, enlisting in the Golani Brigade. He was on base on October 7, 2023, and was kidnapped to Gaza.
For Trump, it was another successful “deal” ahead of his major visit this week to Saudi Arabia. Although it’s unclear what Hamas has been promised in return, Qatar, one of the chief mediators in the hostage talks, is reportedly planning to gift Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet during his visit to the region.
Hamas can tout a “goodwill” gesture, even though the release of a hostage held under terrible conditions for so long, with almost two dozen others still being chained, starved, and hidden underground, can hardly be seen as goodwill.
The Hostage Families and Missing Forum naturally used the release to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by stating that Trump’s efforts show what a determined leader does for his own citizens.
And Netanyahu naturally posited that the release was proof that its policy of exerting increased pressure on Hamas, including the renewal of fighting, the stoppage of humanitarian aid, and the threat to further a land invasion of Gaza, triggered Hamas to make a gesture that it hopes will stave off Israel’s wrath.
Whatever perception one chooses surrounding the development of the first Israeli hostage to be released since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas fell apart in March, there are a couple of elements that are objectively true.
Edan Alexander is free from Hamas’s clutches, and the entire nation, and any freedom-loving person in the world, should be rejoicing and embracing him and his family after such a prolonged, life-threatening ordeal.
The other fact emerging from the spin is that Alexander’s release emerged via a US-Hamas channel without Israeli involvement, a development that’s worrisome at best.
The Trump administration is clearly moving on its own regarding the Middle East – whether striking deals with the Houthis to refrain from attacking its ships while leaving Israel to fend for itself, negotiating with Iran for a questionably nuclear deal over Israel’s opposition, or leaving Israel behind in its burgeoning deals with Saudi Arabia that may come to fruition this week.
Trump and his main Mideast negotiator, Steve Witkoff, have reportedly expressed frustration with Netanyahu’s insistence on continuing and intensifying the war against Hamas, dubbing it “useless” according to one report.
What Witkoff’s arrival means
Witkoff’s arrival on Monday and meetings with Netanyahu may be bringing a message aimed at jump-starting the dormant hostage release negotiations. “Get on board the peace train, or you might be left behind. We got Alexander home with a little bit of deal-making. End the war without achieving all of your goals, and you can get the other hostages home too.”
The choice Israel must make is whether to take that advice, which will enable Hamas to survive, rebuild, and gird for the next October 7, or to stick to its guns against a growing unified global front aimed at ending the war, with the US being one of the main cheerleaders.
Whether Netanyahu takes that advice or not, one important lesson must be learned from the flurry of activity emerging around Israel, but not including the Israeli government. Israel must not continue to be absent from the talks, negotiations, and agreements that seem to be progressing at a dizzying speed between the US and Gulf Arab countries, and even Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
Most importantly, Israel cannot be seen as being less interested in seeing the return of the hostages than its good friend, the United States. The government must realize that events are changing on a daily basis, and that yesterday’s red lines may no longer be relevant or realistic.
Trump’s interest might only be in freeing Americans, and for that, we can thank him for the blessed release of Edan Alexander. It’s up to Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu to worry about the rest of them. No spin can change that.
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