President Trump recently wrapped up an intense multi-day swing through three Gulf Arab countries -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates -- securing trillions in investments and related commitments for the United States. He did not include a stop in Israel during this trip, though Israel's security was an issue that came up repeatedly. He reiterated that Iran can never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapons program, urged more nations to join the historic Abraham Accords, and celebrated the release of the last remaining living American citizen hostage in Hamas custody, Edan Alexander of New Jersey.
The White House released footage over the weekend of Alexander thanking the president for saving his life:
WATCH: President Trump Speaks by Phone with Freed Hostage Edan Alexander
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 17, 2025
Edan: “You’re the only reason I’m here. You saved my life.”
Trump: “You’re an American, and we love you, and we’re going to take good care of you. And your parents are incredible.” pic.twitter.com/rCpoSPogvT
Still, some Israel supporters are a bit anxious about what sort of US-led nuclear deal might be in the works with Tehran, while others worried that Trump skipping over Israel was some sort of message or snub. The latter concern is baseless, in my opinion, and the details of any potential pact with Iran would be important to scrutinize. But Trump has earned a great deal of credibility and benefit of the doubt on this issue, especially as compared to the previous two Democratic administrations. That's why senior Israeli officials are making public statements like this -- not just because they're hoping to lobby Trump and cement the trust at play, but because the trust really does exist:
Israel’s Minister of Culture Miki Zohar, on the heels of POTUS’ Middle Eastern swing: “President Trump is a true miracle for Israel, and a true miracle for the Middle East.” @foxandfriends pic.twitter.com/UUZtcRMZw4
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 18, 2025
Meanwhile, Israel remains under attack from its enemies -- and continues to aggressively defend itself:
#UPDATE: A ballistic missile launched at Israelis by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists was intercepted https://t.co/z1GBxR6fml
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) May 17, 2025
BREAKING: The Israeli Defense Minister confirms that Israel eliminated Mohammed Sinwar. pic.twitter.com/CgAI7EDybe
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) May 16, 2025
This comes amid a new military operation in Gaza, which is dividing Israelis. Former government spokesman Eylon Levy offered this eloquent analysis of the impossible dilemma Israel's leaders face:
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Right now, there are up to 23 living hostages rotting in the dungeons of Gaza, where they are being starved, tortured, and even sexually abused. There are also 35 bodies of hostages Hamas has already murdered, using as chips to torture their families. We need to get them all out. They could have been any one of us. It could have been me, or my friends. Families ripped out of their beds. Youngsters kidnapped from a music festival. Young conscript soldiers, seized from defensive posts. Hamas is demanding a ransom for their release. It is demanding the release of thousands of convicted terrorists and an end of the war, with international guarantees that it can remain in power. There is a horrific debate in Israel about whether we can afford this ransom. The Netanyahu government has decided we cannot. Many Israelis think we should pay it anyway, to save them. It is insane that we're having a debate about the price of our fellow citizens' lives, but Hamas is demanding a price, so we're forced to decide what it is.
Most of the hostages' families want the government to pay the ransom. It is a core, unshakable part of the Israeli ethos that we do not leave anyone behind. You don't abandon a wounded soldier in the field. And definitely not a civilian snatched from his bed. As they're saying in the rally tonight in Tel Aviv, "nothing else matters right now". Save them now, worry about the costs later. If someone in my family were abducted, I would demand the same. Nothing else matters. And if I were in power, I would probably pay the ransom (I would also order a state commission of inquiry, but that is another matter). We have been checkmated. We will never forgive ourselves if we fail to bring our fellow citizens. It will break our social contract. Hamas knows that, of course, and that's why it exploits our greatest strength, our sense of solidarity, as our Achilles' heel. This ransom comes at a cost, and this point is worth hammering. The terrorists we release from jail WILL take hostages in future, because we are showing it works. There is a reason most countries don't pay ransoms to terrorist hostage-takers. We got soldier Gilad Shalit back for 1,000 terrorists in 2011; one of them was Yahya Sinwar. Hamas is demanding the hostage-takers of tomorrow for the hostages of today.
...Leaving Hamas standing means it will rebuild its tunnels and its missile silos. And it will attack when it's ready. Because Hamas is a jihadi army whose stated purpose for existence is to wage war until Israel is destroyed. There's no such thing as a "permanent ceasefire". If this is not the last Gaza war, there will be a next Gaza war, and it will be worse. Why? Because Hamas will conclude the world will keep saving it from the wars it starts. Because its human shield strategy will be vindicated. Because it will take hostages again, knowing this is our Achilles' heel. And we want this to be the last Gaza war, because we're sick of war and want no more fighting. It's just not true, as some have written, that "total victory" is some far-right fantasy. The policy of containment that Netanyahu led before the war failed. We're not going back to it. We cannot live with this terror state on our borders, or the next war is a matter of time. Enough war.
The Netanyahu government has decided that we cannot pay this ransom, and so Operation Gideon's Chariot is intended to get us better terms. Military pressure is the only leverage we have over Hamas, besides controlling the entry of supplies into Gaza, which is its main pipeline. Other countries have leverage over Hamas — via its patrons, Qatar, Turkey, and Iran — but they're not using it. Because they're craven and venal, and money speaks loudest. We'll deal with that later. The operation is also intended to end the game of "cat and mouse" that has seen Israeli soldiers recapturing areas we have already withdrawn from: push Hamas out once, and then keep it out until it is crushed like ISIS was crushed. So why am I conflicted? Because I think everyone's right. I think the minority of hostage families supporting military pressure are right that this is the only leverage we have to get our hostages back (other than paying the ransom that leaves it in power). And I think the majority of hostage families who say that a military campaign endangers the hostages are also right. Hamas could conclude the hostages are worthless and execute them, like it has executed so many before.
Agonizing. Levy concludes, "War is hell. We didn't want this war. We didn't start this war. We didn't even expect this war. But by God, we have to win this war. Or there will be a next, worse war, which we don't want. And that means all the goals of the war. Defeating Hamas and bringing back the hostages. I pray that our soldiers and hostages return safely, and that innocent people caught in the crossfire escape it." As for the moral calculus of this war, and an emerging motive behind it (beyond Hamas' genocidal hatred of Jews and stated goal of annihilating the Jewish state), I'll leave you with this:
Gaza is the only war in modern history in which people insist on having a civilian population remain trapped in a war zone, and any attempt to get them out of harm's way is met with condemnation, all while refusing to call out the evil terror organization that started the war.
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) May 17, 2025
The Wall Street Journal obtained exclusive documents from within Gaza, which were verified by several Arab intelligence and diplomatic sources, about Hamas’s real intention behind the October 7 attacks. The Islamist group was primarily concerned with sabotaging the prospect of… pic.twitter.com/IunTlRAXsW
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) May 18, 2025
Top leaders of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel aiming to torpedo peace negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to minutes of a high-level meeting in Gaza that Israel’s military said it discovered in a tunnel beneath the enclave. Days before the assault that left nearly 1,200 dead, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s Gaza chief, told fellow militants that an “extraordinary act” was required to derail the normalization talks that he said risked marginalizing the Palestinian cause, the document, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said. The plan worked—at a terrible price.
Let's hope the Saudis don't reward Iran and Hamas by allowing the sabotage to succeed, longer term.
