| |  | | | | | | | With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. this week, small slivers of optimism emerged for progress towards a cease-fire and hostage deal for the Gaza war. While the meeting between the two men has not yet led us to such an outcome – the political math seems relatively clear. Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, which he is more likely obtain if he succeeds in convincing Netanyahu to lay down his weapons in Gaza.
As Rachel Brandenburg of the Israel Policy Forum argues, Trump likely pushed Netanyahu in exactly this direction – to finally end the war. Here is one proposal from Mahmoud Shehada, a Palestinian living in Gaza, for what a cease-fire could look like. As Gershon Baskin, who previously negotiated IDF solder Gilad Shalit's release, reminds us the cost of continuing the war is too high.
Historian Joshua Leifer describes how Trump's means, although not his ends, signal a departure from the traditional bilateral relationship between Israel and the United States. From an American Jewish perspective, here is Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Manhattan's Park Avenue Synagogue on why now is the time to stand up and demand a cease-fire.
Here's a take by Saudi scholar Aziz Alghashian and Syria expert Rob Pinfold on how the Iran war may have precipitated less, instead of more, openness to normalization with Israel. Moty Kanias, formerly a senior executive in Israeli security agencies, argues that while Israel may have had some successes against Iran, the Islamic Republic too achieved many of its goals in the 12-day war. | | |
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