Washington D.C. – USA Today, August 06, 2024
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu came to Washington and promised families of US hostages held by Hamas that a deal is ‘ripening.’ Meanwhile, he’s asking for more and derailing any progress.
The prisoner swap that safely brought Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Pulitzer Prize winner Vladimir Kara-Murza back to the United States was a series of tough but necessary calls by the Biden administration. It included the release of prisoners guilty of terrible crimes, like Vadim Krasikov, a Russian assassin, and others. It required multinational complex negotiations over months.
It is the unfortunate reality that to save innocent people being wrongfully detained, like Evan and Paul, trades are sometimes the only pathway. In this case, Russian prisoners, held for serious crimes, were released. President Joe Biden understands this aspect of diplomatic trades to get innocent people out of dangerous situations and make families whole again.
In contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not, or refuses to care.
As an Israeli and a person whose job it is to get hostages home, the situation in Gaza is simultaneously infuriating and heartbreaking.
It has been more than 300 days since the hostages ‒ elderly men, young women and even children ‒ were ripped from their homes and taken captive by Hamas. It is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s most important job and core to the Israeli social contract that he leads the charge to bring them home.
I served in the Israeli army. But it does not take a soldier to understand that only a deal ‒ not military action ‒ can set them free. A deal in late November successfully returned more than 100 hostages, including 4-year-old American Israeli Abigail Edan.
Netanyahu came to the United States last month and promised families that a deal is “ripening,” but it is all talk and gaslighting. At the same time, he is walking back the deal that he and his government did agree to, asking for more, derailing any progress.
There are two cardinal truths I’ve learned in my career, something that Netanyahu needs to keep in mind. First, hostage negotiation deals never get better over time. Even the latest prisoner swap deal with Russia was pricier than it could have been earlier. And second, time never plays out well for the hostages in captivity.
The deal that is on the table is the same deal that was available to Israel in December. The only difference now is that there are fewer hostages alive.
Real leaders understand that a good deal doesn’t get you exactly what you want but it does get your citizens home. Nothing in the proposed deal poses an existential threat over the state of Israel. Therefore, Israel is strong enough to say yes ‒ and bring its people home.
