Talk about “hit the ground running.”
President-elect Donald Trump has virtually redefined the pre-presidency more than any soon-to-be president in U.S. history. From corporation after corporation running away from DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) insanity to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Facebook would kick its notorious “fact-checkers” to the curb in favor of free expression to now, an apparent breakthrough in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Trump and his team continue to amaze.
As reported by The Times of Israel on Wednesday under the headline “Arab officials: Trump envoy swayed Netanyahu more in one meeting than Biden did all year,” a “tense Jerusalem sit-down led to breakthrough in talks, with Israel and Hamas agreeing in principle to hostage deal two days later [with] sides now finalizing implementation details.”
While the devil is in the details, as we’ve seen countless times during past negotiations between the Jewish state and the Islamist terrorist group, the announcement is nothing short of incredible. Think about it.
Outgoing President Joe Biden has thrown Israel under the bus at every opportunity in the aftermath of the horrific October 7, 2023, terrorist attack, in which Hamas and several other Palestinian Islamist groups launched coordinated armed incursions into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, murdering roughly 1,200 civilians, including more than 40 American citizens, and taking 251 innocent people hostage, including 12 Americans.
The attack coincided with the Jewish religious holiday Simchat Torah.
Yet Biden has despicably called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare a ceasefire against Hamas — without unconditional pledges from the terrorist organization to release remaining hostages that they haven’t murdered.
Two Arab officials told The Times a weekend meeting between Netanyahu and Trump’s incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff led to a breakthrough in the negotiations, with Witkoff doing more to sway Netanyahu in a single sit-down than Biden did all year.