Dealing with the devil’s apologists

by Ruthie Blum
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The chutzpah of the joint statement by Washington, Cairo and Doha was characteristic of Hamas’s three stooges.

(JNS) In a statement released late Thursday night, the governments in Washington, Cairo and Doha performed a feat that’s been par for their course since Oct. 7: creating moral parity between Israel and the perpetrators of the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust.

“There is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay,” the trio asserted. “It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement.”

Excuses. From any party.

This bit of chutzpah—signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani—was characteristic of Hamas’s three stooges. Let’s look at this illustrious cast of characters.

First, there’s the cowering, absent leader of the free world, who’s been treating Benjamin Netanyahu as though he’s got the hostages chained up in the basement of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem—and who reportedly admonished Bibi to “stop bullshi**ing” about moving forward with negotiations for their release.

Then there’s the head of Israel’s longtime peace partner state that’s been turning a not-so-blind eye to the above-ground and subterranean transfer of construction materials and weapons to the terrorist enclave on the other side of its border.

Topping off the triumvirate is Hamas’s chief benefactor in the Gulf.

Their declaration began as follows: “It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families. The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”

It continued, “The three of us and our teams have worked tirelessly over many months to forge a framework agreement that is now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude. This agreement is based on the principles as outlined by President [Joe] Biden on May 31, 2024, and endorsed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2735.”

It was here that the “no excuses from any party for further delay” clause was inserted. As if to stress that fussing over the “details” was unreasonable, especially after the contingents in the United States, Egypt and Qatar had toiled so diligently over them.

However, it emphasized: “As mediators, if necessary, we are prepared to present a final bridging proposal that resolves the remaining implementation issues in a manner that meets the expectations of all parties.”

It concluded by “call[ng] on both sides to resume urgent discussion on Thursday, Aug. 15 in Doha or Cairo to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay.”

Netanyahu promptly accepted the invitation.

“Pursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will—on Aug. 15—send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” his office announced early Friday morning.

Lo and behold, Hamas suddenly came up with a new condition—or, at least, this is what Sky News Arabia reported on Friday after Netanyahu agreed to dispatch a delegation to Cairo or Doha in the coming week.

According to the broadcast, based on—what else?—anonymous sources, the terrorist group, now led exclusively by Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, has demanded the release from Israeli prison of arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, former head of Fatah’s Tanzim faction. Barghouti is currently serving five life sentences for his role in the mass murder of Israelis during the Second Intifada.

Sky News Arabia also claimed that this demand by Hamas is backed by the United States, which has been pushing for a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority as a solution to the “day after” the war in Gaza. The unnamed sources explained that Hamas wants Barghouti to be set free so that he can ultimately take over the P.A. and rule the Strip when Sinwar is no longer at liberty to do so.

It’s a neat trick. If an election were held today in the P.A., Hamas would win hands-down. But Barghouti is wildly popular there as well.

After all, his ideology and actions are no different from those of Sinwar. One could say that they’re blood brothers when it comes to the aim in their DNA of annihilating the Jewish state.

It’s unclear whether Hamas’s latest maneuver is a sign that Sinwar senses that the tunnel walls are closing in on him—thanks to the achievements by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, and to the recent assassinations of Hezbollah military honcho Fuad Shakr in Lebanon and Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Nor do assurances from Biden, el-Sisi and Al Thani that only a few wrinkles remain in the ostensible agreement they insist is on the table mean that Israel is any closer to seeing the return of the hostages.

Furthermore, by Thursday, when the ingathering of the negotiators is slated to take place, Iran and Hezbollah may have made good on their vow to unleash the wrath of Allah upon Israelis at home and Jews abroad.

Faith in any deal with the devils in and around Israel’s midst is therefore hard to muster.

















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