Trump-Israel tensions begin to surface over Gaza hostage talks
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Israeli leaders expressed displeasure after US envoy for hostages Adam Boehler spoke with a top Hamas representative regarding hostages in Gaza.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - Rare tensions are surfacing between Israel and President Donald Trump’s administration, after the US engaged in direct negotiations with Hamas
As details emerged about talks between Mr Adam Boehler, the US envoy for hostages, and a top Hamas representative, Israeli leaders quietly expressed their displeasure, saying Hamas is a terrorist organisation whose words can’t be trusted or taken at face value.
Mr Boehler acknowledged in television interviews on March 9 that Israel had “raised some concerns”, but said it’s helpful to hear what Hamas wants and what it’s offering.
“We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play,” he noted on CNN.
The friction over Mr Boehler’s outreach to Hamas, a group the US and others designate as terrorist, is the first sign of disagreement.
While Mr Trump has made his support for Israel clear, the president’s unpredictable moves – including stunning European allies by opening direct peace talks with Russia – left officials wary.
On March 10, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter and a member of the security Cabinet, went public with criticism of Mr Boehler on Israel Radio.
“This is a measure which – even if the intentions behind it are very good – the execution is very bad, very problematic,” he said. “It’s very dangerous when you undertake moves without knowing and without coordinating with the Israeli side.”
Israeli officials have repeatedly asserted that, when differences appeared between their positions and the US’ during former president Joe Biden’s administration, Hamas hardened its stand.
They were delighted when Mr Trump was elected in November,
Despite direct talks with Hamas, Mr Boehler told several Israeli television channels on March 9 that the US-Israel relationship is rock-solid, not under threat.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a radio interview on March 10 that “Israel is 100 per cent coordinated with the US administration”.
Even if he added that the US can’t negotiate on behalf of Israelis.
Mr Smotrich, a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, just returned from what he said was a highly productive visit with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
In the Biden era, Mr Smotrich was shunned by Washington, unable to secure an invitation.
In his Israeli interviews, Mr Boehler said he wasn’t only focused on the living US hostage and the four dead ones held by Hamas, and that the goal was the return of all hostages. He said Hamas offered to return them in exchange for a 10 to 15 year truce and to lay down its arms.
Mr Dichter said such talk was evidence of naïveté and the US envoy had little understanding of the region or Hamas.
“I think that whoever thinks Hamas will be disarming doesn’t know Hamas and doesn’t know its ideology,” he added. The militant group had signaled willingness to cede some power, but not its rockets and rifles.
Ceasefire talks
An Israeli negotiating team is headed to Qatar later today to engage in another round of indirect talks with Hamas,
Israel, meanwhile, says it’s preparing to go back to war against Hamas, if necessary.
Most Israelis say they don’t want a return to fighting because they want priority given to returning the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom are thought to be alive.
The war began in October 2023 when thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel, killing 1200 and abducting 250. Israel’s counter-offensive has killed 48,000 Gazans, according to Hamas-run health ministry.
A 42-day first phase to a ceasefire
Some 33 hostages were freed for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a boost in aid entering Gaza. Since then, efforts to get to a second phase have faltered, with Israel barring aid from entering the coastal strip of 2 million. BLOOMBERG
