Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff clearly noticed the skeptical looks around them in the Prime Minister’s Office—looks that said: how naïve are you if you think Hamas will dismantle itself without the IDF laying a hand on it.
“I was born at night,” Kushner told them, “but not last night.”
The Americans made it clear they had not forgotten who Hamas is, or who the Gazans are. We remember very well, they said, that not a single person called the hotline the IDF opened for turning in hostages. Even in Nazi Germany there were Righteous Among the Nations—and that was without the promise of five million dollars.
The gaps between the U.S. and Israel regarding Gaza are larger than they were—but smaller than reported. The main dispute concerns reconstruction. The White House clarified that Gaza’s reconstruction will not begin until a process of demilitarization starts—meaning that construction materials would be allowed in once demilitarization begins, long before it is completed. Israel is unwilling to accept this, having learned the bitter lesson that cement and iron go first to the tunnels.