"The cease-fire and hostage agreement announced by Israel and Hamas Wednesday is a bad deal. Worse, it comes at the wrong time and under unfavorable conditions. The deal stipulates that roughly three dozen hostages kidnapped from Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, will be returned to their families.
While that's good news, the price -- the survival of Hamas -- is too steep.
A better deal was available and could have been reached had Jerusalem and Mar-a-Lago waited a few days. President-elect Trump's demand for a final agreement before his Jan. 20 inauguration pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the current framework.
We don't know whether Mr. Netanyahu tried to convince Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump's Middle East envoy, to wait for a better agreement. But it's clear that waiting would likely have resulted in improved terms.
Under the agreement, Hamas will be able to replenish its depleted ranks. Seven hundred or more terrorists will go straight from Israeli prisons to the streets of Gaza. Many are sadistic killers who have spent their years behind bars dreaming of a return to the battlefield.
By releasing these hardened killers, Israel is repeating a mistake it has learned 100 times the hard way: Releasing large numbers of terrorists ignites waves of terror. This happened after the May 1985 Jibril Agreement, which led to the first intifada. In 2011, Israel exchanged 1,027 Hamas prisoners for one kidnapped hostage -- soldier Gilad Shalit. Among those released in exchange for Mr. Shalit was Yahya Sinwar, who later became the leader of Hamas in Gaza and masterminded the Oct. 7 massacre.
Hamas terrorists freed by the current deal will soon rejoin the organization's network, which spans Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Qatar and Turkey. Once reunited with their colleagues, they will launch new attacks.
It's as if the U.S. sent captured al-Qaeda fighters back to Afghanistan in 2002. Crazy.
Goods and fuel will also flood into Gaza as a result of Wednesday's agreement, helping Hamas to rebuild itself militarily and financially. Hamas will use the fuel for tunnel digging and operations against Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
According to reports from the battlefield, Hamas is still fighting from within the tunnels.
The fuel that Hamas terrorists receive will enable them to upgrade their underground network in preparation for the resumption of war, which will come sooner or later. In other words, Israel is, with its own hands, helping its enemy to prepare to wage war.
Hamas has a long history of stealing foreign aid, selling what it steals to Gazans at inflated prices, and using the proceeds to recruit young fighters. When the cease-fire takes effect and the IDF withdraws, the organization will quickly rebuild itself and resume its cross-border activities.
It's reasonable to ask why the IDF hasn't been able to destroy Hamas completely in 15 months. The main reason is that President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly intervened in ways that helped Hamas survive. Israel's acceptance of the American demand that it fight with one hand tied behind its back was a strategic failure. One strategic failure doesn't justify another.
Many Israelis hoped that Mr. Trump would stop the madness and give Mr. Netanyahu the green light to crush Hamas once and for all. Instead Mr. Trump pushed Mr. Netanyahu to accept a deal with the devil. The Israeli prime minister should never have done it.
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Mr. Kahana is diplomatic and White House correspondent for Israel Hayom, a daily newspaper." [1]
It means that Trump is a realist. Bad news for Mr. Zelensky in Ukraine. Soon, very soon he will join his spouse's spa in Western Europe.
Rest assured: Israelis are not "sadistic killers". Israelis are doves killing Palestinian babies in many thousands.
1. Trump Forced Netanyahu to Make a Deal With the Devil. Kahana, Ariel. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 16 Jan 2025: A17.
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