Op-Ed: Has Trump Called Hamas’s Bluff?

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The long delay in Monday’s much awaited press conference may have been due to the two leaders involved hammering down the last details, but it did enable those waiting to raise a quizzical eyebrow over the lack of a third party attending the festivities. The scene at the ensuing press conference was surreal; it resembled an engagement party where the groom and the matchmaker publicly celebrated the match and patted themselves on the back for its successful conclusion while the bride sat sullenly in her room, refusing to respond to the list of requirements she would need for the wedding.

When the matchmaker, however, is Donald J. Trump, and he voluntarily assumes a godfather role for the bickering couple, the world has to sit up and take notice. Trump may have oversimplified the issue: There are not 2 million peaceloving Palestinians in Gaza whose lives have been hijacked by Hamas thugs, but rather 2 million people who revered and adulated Hamas until their lives were rudely disrupted by the Israeli response to Oct. 7, and another 1.5 million Hamas sympathizers in Judea and Samaria who would only too soon commit a similar massacre if they had the opportunity and means.

Moreover the president also naively believes that ideology is dead and has been replaced by pragmatism and realism. In the region where all the major religions were founded, he sees land not as something to die for in a holy war but as real estate which could reap a financial bonanza for its owners.

Despite this, Trump may not have ended the Middle East’s troubles but he has certainly put his finger on the current intractable issue: Hamas’s refusal to reach any compromise which could save Gaza and Israel from further prolonging the two-year conflict. Trump’s demand of Hamas to release the hostages and lay down their weapons in return for clemency is effectively a smoking gun, forcing them to choose between being the bad guy who refuses to cooperate with both Israel and many Arab countries (including surprisingly Pakistan, an inveterate Islamic enemy of Israel) or agrees to  lose all relevance in the future rebuilding of Gaza.

It is hard to imagine Hamas accepting such unsavory terms, especially in light of their astonishingly successful public relations blitz which has already encouraged many countries to declare Israel as genocidal, blaming it for mass starvation and targeting innocent children. Israel’s international standing has almost never been lower, its trade relations with Europe are in jeopardy and it may even be booted out of Europe’s football competitions, while Palestine is now recognized even by Britain and France.

Yet several significant factors have changed. Hamas’s main patron Qatar, who have successfully bought off universities, intellectuals and politicians around the world, have now seen the war reach their own borders, and they detest this development. Netanyahu’s public apology to the emir of Qatar and promise not to attack them further was likely accompanied by a private demand to get rid of Hamas and cut off all their ties with the terrorist group. The fact that Qatar joined the negotiations in Washington, representing the side of the reluctant bride, indicates that they have chosen to join the presidential cavalcade and that they may even join the Abraham accords in due course.

Additionally, Trump has exposed Hamas’s mendacity by offering it what it claimed it needed to end the war: Release of high-profile prisoners and all those taken since Oct. 7, a phased withdrawal of Israel’s armed forces, an opportunity to rebuild Gaza with badly needed international assistance. Failure to accept these terms would demonstrate to the world that they are simply using the Gazans as human shields for their survival as a terrorist entity, and their image will be irreparably tarnished.

In the coming days it will become clear whether Trump has succeeded in changing the narrative and calling Hamas’s bluff or whether the war will continue to rage, but with Israel now attaining the moral legitimacy to eradicate their implacable foes.