With hostage deal, Netanyahu is going all in on Trump | The Times of Israel
And in an interview with the Call Me Back podcast, incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz said Trump sought to fundamentally change the dynamic that encouraged terrorist groups to take hostages.
Terrorist groups and rogue states have been taking Americans hostage, and they ve only seen upside [for doing so for] the last four years, Waltz charged. So why not take more? Why not take as many as you can and see what you get? With President Trump, he made it very clear very early not just with Hamas, with groups around the world there ll be nothing but downside.
Hamas, Waltz told interviewer Dan Senor, has to be destroyed to the point that it cannot reconstitute.
Could Netanyahu be channeling a solemn commitment from Trump when he promises Smotrich a resumption of the war after phase 1?
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday evening, moreover, Waltz specified that the US will back Israel if it needs to reenter Gaza. We ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this: If they need to go back in, we re with them, he said. If Hamas doesn t live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them.