Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American Nov 24, 2023

[applegrove]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-25-2023?utm_campaign=email-post&r=3aksq&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

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Still, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing supporters refused to agree to the terms of the truce until U.S. President Joe Biden pressured them to do so. “This deal was a Biden deal, not a Netanyahu deal,” a senior official in the Israeli government told the NBC reporters. Biden administration officials have been constantly engaged with the region’s leaders to help hammer out the agreement.

Yesterday, when the deal was finally firm, Biden spoke from Nantucket, where he and his family were celebrating Thanksgiving. “I have consistently pressed for a pause in the fighting for two reasons,” he said: “to accelerate and expand the humanitarian assistance going into Gaza and…to facilitate the release of hostages.”

Once again, he emphasized that “this cycle of violence in the Middle East” must end. And, once again, he called for “a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can one day live side by side…with equal measure of freedom and dignity.” He told reporters, “There’s overwhelming interest—and I think most Arab nations know it—in coordinating with one another to change the dynamic in their region for a longer-term peace.” He noted that he was “working very closely with the Saudis and others…to bring peace to the region by having recognition of Israel and Israel’s right to exist” when Hamas attacked on October 7, a move Hamas leaders told reporters was intended to make sure the Palestinian cause did not get forgotten.

While two Americans were released on October 20, no more Americans were released in these first two groups under the truce. Holding Americans keeps the U.S. deeply involved in the struggle, and since pressure from the U.S. is key to moderating the behavior of Israel’s right-wing coalition leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing to hold Americans provides leverage for Hamas.

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