The release of the American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has provided a powerful contrast between the modest efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate with Hamas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on war. Israeli newspaper Haaretz’s lead editorial for May 13 called Trump’s efforts to end the war and return the hostages, “a final call for Israel to stop its planned Operation Gideon’s Chariots in the Gaza Strip before those chariots set out on a road that will lead it to disaster.” They add: “Trump’s moves have exposed the nakedness of Israel’s government.”
The freeing of Alexander “happened solely thanks to Trump’s intervention, and contrary to the position of the Netanyahu government,” the editorial continues. It’s obvious that “foreign governments have been more committed to freeing the Israeli hostages than its own government.”
They further write: “Trump intends to end the war, bring all the hostages home, send humanitarian aid into Gaza and, down the road, promote a tectonic shift in the Middle East with a Saudi Arabia deal at the heart of it. Nobody can know whether he will achieve these goals. But any sane country led by a government that desires life … would wish him success and do anything he asked it to enable progress in this direction.” In contrast, the editorial adds, Netanyahu is counting on negotiations with Hamas to fail so that he can continue his scheme to fully occupy Gaza and expel its population.
