By Joan Swirsky
Oy vey! The glass is not half empty—it’s completely empty!
Oy gevalt! The sky really is falling!
That’s what our purportedly most astute and seasoned political commentators would have you believe about the ceasefire agreement that was reached just a day or so ago between Hamas and Israel.
These pearl-clutching, handwringing, anxiety filled savants have now become 2025’s Doomsday Squad. But it sounds to me like they all participated in the same Zoom session, so similar are their dire messages and predictions.
And so wrong-headed!
The esteemed Harvard Law professor emeritus, Alan Dershowitz, opined that “it wasn’t a deal; it was a crime.”
“This was not the result of a negotiation between equals. If an armed robber puts a gun to your head and says, ‘your money or your life,’ your decision to give him your money would not be described as a deal,” he said.
“Would you call it a deal if somebody kidnapped your child, and you ‘agreed’ to pay ransom to get her back? Of course not. The kidnapping was a crime. And the extortionate demand was an additional crime,” Dershowitz continued.
The estimable Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch and prolific author, asked “How bad is it? It makes a replay, and quite likely more than one replay, of Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, a very real possibility…the deal also involves ‘the release of 50 Palestinian Arab terrorists serving life sentences. These are essentially convicted murderers with Jewish blood on their hands who are likely to murder Jews again.’”
The widely known commentator and President of the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes, called the deal “momentous” and “horrific.”
“The deal, Pipes concluded, “releases many hundreds of hardened Islamist criminals, now free to return to their murderous ways. It nearly assures continued Hamas rule in Gaza. It boosts Islamist morale worldwide. It humiliates the West’s foremost Middle Eastern ally.”
The prolific British writer Melanie Phillips also weighed in, writing that negotiating with Qatar was “dealing with the devil,” and that the jubilant Arabs were ecstatic because they believed that the deal “would enable them now, finally, to destroy Israel and the Jews.”
In addition, the formidable Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) issued this stern warning: “No responsible Israeli government should agree to such a dangerous surrender deal. Didn’t the government learn from the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, in which Israel received one Israeli hostage for releasing 1,027 Palestinian Arab terrorists (including October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar) who were collectively responsible for killing 569 Israelis? The Shalit deal resulted in October 7, numerous other terror attacks, the murders of more than 2,000 innocent Jews and the maiming of many thousands of innocent Jews and others.”
And to top it off, several high-ranking members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition threatened to leave if he signed the deal, which was predicted to result in total chaos in the Knesset. They include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called the deal “reckless,” as well as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amihai Chikli.
Bottom line, each of these critics––and dozens of others––denigrated both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President-elect Donald Trump for agreeing to and participating in one of history’s worst deals!
OTOH
My question to these critics: What do you think the conversation was when the Israeli Prime Minister visited the President-elect at his Mar-a-Lago estate last July? Do you suppose they discussed the poetry of Emily Dickinson?
Do you think they studiously avoided discussion of the ongoing and escalating war not between but among Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Yemen, and Iraqi groups, and what to do about this existential threat to the tiny Jewish state?
Do you think they wished each other well and parted ways with handshakes and smiles?
I don’t.
THE PLAN OF ACTION
I think that President-elect didn’t pressure PM Netanyahu at all, that he simply suggested a strategy that would work.
And it did!
Given his solution-oriented nature, Mr. Trump told the PM that he would threaten to annihilate the mass murderers who not only threatened to obliterate the entire state of Israel but to extinguish the lives of every Jew in the world. That this threat…this promise…was actually written down in their charter and mission statement and boasted about by like-minded advocates of this death cult.
Well…. POOF! As soon as Mr. Trump posted those “hell to pay” words––because they believed him––magic! Hamas agreed to negotiate and Israel, wisely, agreed.
Why wisely? Because Mr. Trump never took back his original words––there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released before his inauguration….in just a couple of days…. January 20th, 2025!
SOME PEOPLE “GET” IT
Right off the bat, U.S. Representative Mike Waltz, President-elect Trump’s choice for National Security Adviser, announced that he vowed that the Trump Administration would support Israel resuming operations in Gaza if Hamas violated the ceasefire deal.
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar.
And Douglas Altabef, Chairman of the Board of Im Tirtzu and a Director of the Israel Independence Fund, writes that “it is too soon to be too distraught about the hostage deal.
“Again,” says Altabef, “I would urge us all not to jump to a definitive conclusion quite yet. Hopefully, as happened in November 2023, we will look back and say, yes there was disruption, yes, our job got more difficult and complicated, but we were able to secure the release of (most, all, many??) hostages, and then got back to the required task of dismantling Hamas.
“We need to remember,” Altabef continues, “that Trump has appointed very pro-Israel people to key leadership roles in his government. The Secretaries of State and Defense, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth (who is likely to be approved despite initial concerns), are both firmly in Israel’s corner, and are knowledgeable about the situation in this neighborhood.
“I believe that Trump himself is very much with us and will regard supporting Israel as part of a key strategic construct needed to face down China, Russia and Iran.
“He now is starting off his tenure with the geo-political wind at his back, and he knows that Bibi and Israel helped him to get exactly where he wanted to be. Getting Trump to have a latter-day version of the 1980 Iranian hostage release, as Reagan assumed office, is an enormous credibility boost for him.”
Concluding, Altabef says: “I for one would like to think that Trump knows that Israel helped him to achieve it, and that he will be returning the favor as his term unfolds.
So, friends, grit your teeth, and take a longer view. God willing, we will emerge from this intact, more unified, and ultimately, strengthened.”
To these inspiring words, can we all say a hearty Amen!
© 2025 Joan Swirsky – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Joan Swirsky: joanswirsky@gmail.com
Website: http://www.joanswirsky.com
