Biden’s ‘Israeli’ Proposal for a Hostage Deal Leaves Key Questions Unanswered

Ahnaf Kalam

On Friday, as many Israelis were enjoying their post-Shabbat-dinner slumber, US President Joe Biden stepped up to the microphones in the White House State Dining Room to deliver a potentially game-changing address.

He presented what he called the latest Israeli proposal for a deal with Hamas to “bring all the hostages home, ensure Israel’s security, create a better day after in Gaza without Hamas in power, and set the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

In his 15-minute speech, Biden laid out a three-phase plan that would result in the release of all hostages, the end of the war, and a rebuilding of the Gaza Strip without Hamas in power.

But the president’s attempt to create a “decisive moment” to close down the fighting and move to the “day after” left fundamental questions unanswered.

Read the full analysis at the Times of Israel.

Lazar Berman is the Times of Israel‘s diplomatic reporter and a Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Lazar Berman is the diplomatic correspondent at the Times of Israel, where he also covers Christian Affairs. He holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and taught at Salahuddin University in Iraqi Kurdistan. Berman is a reserve captain in the IDF’s Commando Brigade and served in a Bedouin unit during his active service.
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I recently witnessed something I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, August 16, 2024, a group of pro-Hamas activists packed up their signs and went home in the face of spirited and non-violent opposition from a coalition of pro-American Iranians and American Jews. The last time I saw anything like that happen was in 2006 or 2007, when I led a crowd of Israel supporters in chants in order to silence a heckler standing on the sidewalk near the town common in Amherst, Massachusetts. The ridicule was enough to prompt him and his fellow anti-Israel activists to walk away, as we cheered their departure. It was glorious.