https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2pp3y68w5o
But sources familiar with the discussions agreed the dynamics of the talks shifted decisively in mid-December and the pace changed.
Hamas, already reeling from Israel's killing of its leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza two months earlier, had become increasingly isolated. Its Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah had been decimated and had agreed to a truce with Israel. Bashar al-Assad's Iran-backed government in Syria had also been swept away.
The view in Washington is that Hamas was forced to abandon the idea that "the cavalry was coming to save it", as one US official put it.
"It is hard to overstate how fundamentally the equation changed and what that [did] for Hamas's calculus," says a senior Biden administration official familiar with the talks.
On one hand, Pidyon Shevu'im is a major mitzvah, one of the biggest. On the other hand, there's a prohibition to negotiate with hostage-takers for fear they'll just do it again.
ReplyDeleteSo what's the difference between the two?
The difference is that the Sanhedrin is not running Israel. Trump isn't getting psak from YU for each decision. Bibi is not all powerful.
DeleteThe. Maccabees didn't consult the Sanhedrin but instead used their priestly methods. And won.
Bar kochba was backed by rabbi akiva, and lost.
People will say that Bibi just succumbed to the same deal Biden offered him but that he rejected. DT will love to emphasize this - Bibi could stand up to Biden but not Trump and since it was a bad deal under Biden, Trump just made Bibi accept a bad deal.
DeleteExcept when Biden offered this deal, Assad was still running Syria, Iran still had its defences intact, Hezbollah had functioning pagers and Hamas openly controlled all the important parts of Gaza.
Today none of that is true anymore. A bad deal but made at a much better time.
Yes that's correct.
DeleteIsrael was negotiating for hostages all through the war
But there's a certain physical and political momentum in the war. Which means you can't just stop start and ceasefire because other people want you to stop.