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There is Good News Today, Fingers Crossed (oops, not so fast)
A hostage and ceasefire deal negotiated by both the Biden and incoming Trump administrations
I’m going to do something you might never see me do. I’m going to give Trump some credit for today’s announcement of a deal between Israel and Hamas. The lion’s share goes to the unending efforts of Joe Biden in the face of complex politics on all sides.
But nearly 47,000 Gazans have died and hundreds were killed just this past week. And over twelve hundred Israelis were killed in the Hamas terrorist attack that started this war. Those numbers are horrible and they ripped apart Americans as we watched the death tolls mount and the endless images of dead children.
The question now is will it last, will both sides really try to stick to it, and how many of the hostages will be released, alive or dead? The deal has three stages and each depends on a real balancing act on both sides, an act that any incident could destroy.
The world needs this conflict to end but the question in my mind today is, does Bibi Netanyahu need peace? That’s an open question as he needs his government to hold together or he personally risks prosecution for corruption.
Based on that uncertainty, they are not celebrating in Israel. The people on both sides know that until actual things change, any celebrations may be premature.
We will all be watching.
[Update: I wrote the above on Wednesday the 15th. Since then the Israelis have bombed Gaza again, killing at least 70 people. Netanyahu has delayed their Parliament’s approval vote until the weekend. This is not a done deal and, frankly, I am disgusted. Netanyahu is a war criminal, does not represent the Israeli people, could care less about the hostages, and is not our friend.]
I watched Biden’s farewell speech to the American people as I was writing this. I have to acknowledge his amazing contribution to the American Constitution over a fifty year lifetime of service. It is really an unparalleled story. It’s very unfortunate that Kamala Harris will not be continuing that story, and Biden is partially responsible for that by reneging on his promise to be a one term…
