We can only hope that Trump’s pressure is part of a larger plan to secure Israel’s total victory, not its surrender.
Netanyahu speaks to Trump Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO
It seems that the deal brokered under pressure from incoming President Trump is done, forcing Israel to release terrorists and essentially withdraw from Gaza in exchange for freeing some hostages.
I am left grappling with profound confusion and disbelief.
How is it that after enduring the most horrific attack in modern Israeli history—a massacre on Oct. 7th that claimed thousands of lives and led to the kidnapping of innocent men, women, and even babies—that Israel is still the one being pressured?
Why is the Jewish state, the victim of this barbarity, forced to capitulate to the demands of its enemies?
Why aren’t Hamas, Iran, Qatar, and Egypt—the very actors complicit in this massacre—being held accountable?
The Injustice of International Pressure
The very fact that Israel is under this pressure reflects a twisted moral calculus. Even worse, the rumored terms of this deal are beyond comprehension: releasing over 1,000 terrorists, withdrawing from Gaza, and leaving Hamas victorious.
Hamas winning this war sends a message to the entire pro-Jihad world that massacres,kidnappings, and terrorism work. That endangers every single citizen in the entire freedom-loving world.
Why would Trump, who has built his reputation on peace through strength, be pressuring Israel into such an agreement? It doesn’t align with his previous declarations. Only weeks ago, he warned that all hostages must be freed by Jan. 20th, or, as his VP-elect Vance clarified, Israel would have full support to obliterate Hamas.
So, what has changed?
Something Doesn’t Add Up
This situation raises too many questions:
1. Why Would Trump Change Course?
Trump’s past rhetoric emphasized peace through strength. He knows who the bad guys are. Why would he push Israel into appeasing Hamas and Iran, undermining his own credibility and Israel’s security?
2. Why Is Israel Caving Now?
Prime Minister Netanyahu resisted similar pressure for over a year in not agreeing to the dangerous concessions that would endanger Israel and not even return all of our hostages. Why would he now agree to that same deal that leaves Hamas alive and emboldened to kill and kidnap more Israelis moving forward?
3. Is There a Bigger Picture?
Could this be a strategic maneuver by Trump to allow Israel to destroy Hamas after Jan. 20th? Is this a calculated move to secure the hostages while setting the stage for Israel’s ultimate victory?
4. Can this be about stopping a final anti-Israel act by the Biden administration?
With news reports assessing the Biden administration planning a last-minute diplomatic attack against Israel at the UN, can Trump’s strategic pressuring of Israel to accept this horrible Biden/Blinken deal with Hamas be about stopping the anti-Israel UN action?
The bottom line is that we don’t know the answers, just that things as they seem do not make sense.
The Real Stakes
Ultimately, Israel’s focus is not just about securing the release of hostages. It’s aboutensuring that what happened on Oct. 7th never happens again.
Reconquering Gaza, placing it under Israeli sovereignty, and making it Jewish again is notjust a moral imperative—it’s a strategic necessity. Anything less emboldens Hamas, all of our enemies, and guarantees future massacres and kidnappings.
This war cannot end with Hamas still in power in Gaza. If it does, despite the beating that Israel gave Hamas, their survival emboldens them to kill us another day and means thatIsrael ultimately will have lost the war. And not just for Israel—this would be a loss for every freedom-loving nation that relies on Israel as the frontline defense against Islamic jihad.
A Time for Faith and Resolve
If this deal is carried out, then something much more significant is at play. We can only hope that Trump’s pressure is part of a larger plan to secure Israel’s total victory, not its surrender.
As we await clarity in the coming days and weeks, I urge everyone to focus on what we can control:
? Pray for the safe return of all the hostages.
? Pray for Israel’s leadership to stand firm and make decisions that protect the Jewish people and ensure our sovereignty.
? Pray for total victory over the Islamonazi forces threatening us and the entire freedom-loving world.
Regardless if Hamas agrees with this deal and it goes through or not, the Jewish state ofIsrael will prevail. This war is not just about Israel—it’s about the future of the entire freedom-loving world, even if we have to fight alone.
Avi Abelow is the host of the Pulse of Israel daily video/podcast and the CEO of 12Tribe Films Foundation.
those who choose to LAY DOWN ALL THE GUNS OF ISRAEL to
send home 100 hostages are WHAT ?
DO I HEAR SMART ??????????????????
NO, I HEAR, LOUD AND CLEAR, DUM DA DUM “DUMB”
Eddie…..aka…..tzvi
Some of this can be explained by the “bird in hand is worth two in the bush” view. Hamas has also changed its mind now by accepting the Biden proposals from May NOT to be blamed by an incoming Trump in a fury with a, for them worse proposal. BB has also probably accepted the plan to evade public blame by an outgoing Biden who will be writing memoirs. Clinton pasted Arafat for not accepting a plan.
Remember how by accepting both Peel and UN 181 Ben Gurion and Israel in general at the time had the press and political advantage. War is politics by violence. The politics is important. Israel also is exhausted and needs a breather to rebuild, restock and retrain. Besides ordering its political house.
Two of Israel’s biggest and worst fails are probably the result of diaspora attitudes remaining engrained in Israeli Jews even after the founding of the state. In the diaspora, it was accepted that “the redemption of captives” held by non-Jewish rulers required Jewish communities to ransom them at any price. This was nearly always done, even when it bankrupted the Jewish communities paying the ransom. This perhaps made some sense in the diaspora, when there was no Jewish state that needed to be defended. But it makes no sense to ransom captives at a very high price when it endangers the security of the state of Israel.
The other major fail of Israel is its failure to counter the massive campaign of hate propaganda, distortions and lies throughout the whole world, and to tell the world’s people the truth about Israel. Most countries that can afford to do so budget a large amount of money to advocating for their country’s interests to the public in foreign countries. But Israel does not do this. Dr. Martin Sherman pointed out years ago that Israel budgeted less money for “public diplomacy” (itself a weak and misleading phrase) than a medi -size Israeli candy manufacturer budgeted for its advertising campaign. Since then, the budget for “public diplomacy” has increased only slightly. And not even all of the little that has been budgeted for it has been spent. Why? In the pre-state diaspora, it could be very dangerous for Jews to respond to the constant stream of lies and libels directed against them by the church, and to tell the Christian majority public the truth about Jews and their religion. This could be interpreted as disrespect for Christianity and the Church, or even an attempt to prosylatize Christians to convert to Judaism, which was strictly forbidden.
Finally a couple of ideas that may make sense of this otherwise apparently inexplicable deal. We must all pray that Israel utterly defeat Hamas, that the IDF retain control over all strategic areas, especially the Philadelphi Corridor, and for the safe return of all hostages. Otherwise, more lawn-mowing is inevitable.
It is less important who pressured Israel into accepting the deal than the fact that Israel did accept it. Israel seems to have learned absolutely nothing since the Gilad Shalit deal. Even worse, though, that Israel agreed to the deal, is the fact that it has resulted in general rejoicing in Israel by both the entire political establishment, except for Ben Gvir, and by the Israeli public. Everyone seems deliriously happy. Crowds celebrating in the streets.
Israel has agreed to release 30 terrorists for every hostage that Hamas says it will release. And that is only if Hamas keeps its word. And Hamas hasn’t even agreed to release all of the hostages.
Clearly, there is a problem with false values in Israel. The lives of a small group of individuals is prioritzed over the survival of the nation as a whole. Even though if the nation and the state it has created to protect it falls, probably more than six million Jews will be killed. Israels are so self-destructive that they are willingly heading to Holocaust II.