When discussions began over releasing Israeli hostages shortly after the October 7 attack by Hamas, the negotiators tasked to strike a deal were mostly intelligence and security professionals. But in February, Israel made an important change that those now involved say has had a profound slowing effect on the discussions to resurrect the broken ceasefire: The file was taken over by the prime minister\u2019s closest political aide, Ron Dermer. <\/p>\n
With Dermer, says a source involved in the negotiations, there\u2019s a \u201csignificant difference in momentum,\u201d from when Israel\u2019s team was led by intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Ronen Bar. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a clear shift in [Israeli] priorities,\u201d the source said. \u201cNegotiations are seemingly being politicized from the Israeli team.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now, Barnea, who directs the Mossad, has been sidelined and Bar, who ran the internal security service Shin Bet, has been fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, causing an uproar in Israel. <\/p>\n
The decision to push aside career national security professionals in favor of Netanyahu\u2019s closest adviser was intended to give Netanyahu more control over the negotiation process, an Israeli source familiar with the negotiations said. <\/p>\n
An Israeli official pushed back on claims that Dermer\u2019s position at the helm of negotiations has hampered progress or politicized the negotiations, saying, \u201cNegotiations need to be judged by results, not process.\u201d <\/p>\n
An Israeli official pushed back on claims that Dermer\u2019s position at the helm of negotiations has hampered progress or politicized the negotiations, saying \u201cnegotiations need to be judged by results, not process.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTo reach a deal, you need someone who actually represents the will of the government that will authorize said deal, not \u2018dissent,\u2019 which only served to undermine negotiations,\u201d the official said. <\/p>\n
The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that started as President Donald Trump took office collapsed last month when Israel re-launched its military operations and US and Israeli officials accused Hamas of rejecting a deal to extend it, which Hamas denied. <\/p>\n
There had long been indications Israel planned to resume its war against Hamas after the first phase of the ceasefire deal, when 38 Israeli and Thai hostages were released over six weeks. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu regularly cites freeing the hostages as a top priority. But so is the destruction of Hamas, and critics have accused him of prioritizing the latter at the expense of the former, namely because that is also where the prime minister\u2019s political interests lie. <\/p>\n
Destroying Hamas has long been the priority of key right-wing members of Netanyahu\u2019s governing coalition, who have invariably threatened and followed through on threats to quit the government. <\/p>\n
With Dermer in charge of the negotiations, Netanyahu can more deftly manage the delicate political balancing act that has influenced Israeli decision-making at every critical turn of the ceasefire negotiations. <\/p>\n
During the many months of ceasefire negotiations last year that ultimately led to a ceasefire deal in January, Israeli security officials balked at Netanyahu\u2019s shifting positions and stall tactics that they believed were influenced by political considerations and delayed the brokering of a deal. But with Dermer now in charge and intelligence leaders marginalized, those dissenting views have featured less prominently in Israeli security discussions and in Israeli press reports. <\/p>\n
While in the US to meet Trump earlier this week, Netanyahu rejected accusations that freeing the hostages isn\u2019t a top priority. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe president looked at me and told the journalists who were present: \u2018This man is working constantly to free the hostages.\u2019 I hope that this shatters the lie that is being circulated to the effect that I am not working for them, that I don\u2019t care. I do care, and I am doing it and we will be successful,\u201d Netanyahu said. <\/p>\n
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel recently made a direct appeal to Dermer, whose title is the Minister of Strategic Affairs, accusing him of leaving them \u201cin complete darkness.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you were appointed as head of the negotiating team, we were promised that this would help reach a breakthrough on a new agreement,\u201d the letter said. \u201cIn reality, more than a month has passed and there is no progress in sight.\u201d <\/p>\n
Barnea and Bar had regularly shuttled to Egypt and Qatar, as well as other countries, for ceasefire talks that included the heads of the CIA, Egyptian intelligence and the prime minister of Qatar. <\/p>\n
Now Dermer speaks less with mediators from Egypt and Qatar, which maintain direct relationships with Hamas, according to the source involved in the negotiations. <\/p>\n
The US point person has also shifted from the former CIA director to the Trump administration\u2019s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has accused Hamas of intransigence that caused the recent ceasefire to break down. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re the Trump team, you blame Hamas but behind the scenes I believe they are trying to push both sides,\u201d the American who works with the hostage families said. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Witkoff didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n
Witkoff and US hostage envoy Adam Boehler have tried to figure out formulas to get Hamas to release the remaining Americans \u2013 one living and four dead \u2013 and get the truce extended enough to try to negotiate the next phase. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe US is doing everything possible to release alive and deceased US hostages, which necessitates the deal,\u201d said an Egyptian official. While Israel \u201cdoesn\u2019t see hostages superseding breaking Hamas.\u201d <\/p>\n
Most recently, Hamas agreed to an Egypt- and Qatar-backed proposal that mirrored one Witkoff presented last month to release the lone living American hostage, Edan Alexander, along with four others and extend the peace through Ramadan and Passover. <\/p>\n
Israel quickly countered, demanding 11 living hostages, almost half of the 24 remaining. That would more dramatically cut into what Hamas views as their greatest leverage over Israel. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still working on the Witkoff plan for an extension,\u201d said a diplomat familiar with the discussions. \u201cI think we have some wiggle room that we can work on.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israel had early in the ceasefire delayed launching negotiations for the second phase whose terms stipulated the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal by Israel\u2019s military from Gaza. <\/p>\n
That could have meant the survival of Hamas \u2013 even if not in power – and flown in the face of Netanyahu\u2019s goal of \u201ctotal victory.\u201d It would also have threatened Netanyahu\u2019s government. <\/p>\n
Those second phase talks never began. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no clarity on the [Israeli] objective,\u201d the first source involved in the talks said, adding: \u201cAmericans are getting impatient.\u201d <\/p>\n
As Israel\u2019s latest operations have taken the death toll in Gaza over 50,000, there has been promising movement to resurrect the truce, those involved say. <\/p>\n
Hamas is feeling the pressure, both from Israel\u2019s military and widescale protests by Palestinians in Gaza, said a US official familiar with the negotiations. <\/p>\n
\u201cHamas is struggling for oxygen,\u201d said the official who accused Hamas of missing American opportunities last month to keep the ceasefire going. \u201cThey\u2019re not very quick to move.\u201d <\/p>\n
The American working with the hostage families has felt \u201csome air being breathed back into the process.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real sense of urgency and push on the part of the Americans and the [Egyptian and Qatari] mediators,\u201d the source involved in the negotiations said. <\/p>\n
To try to salvage the ceasefire, hostage envoy Boehler made an unprecedented move: meeting directly with officials from Hamas, which the US considers a terrorist organization. <\/p>\n
With much of Hamas\u2019 leadership inside Gaza decimated, it\u2019s not clear if the military leaders still fighting Israel are on the same page as the political leadership engaging with mediators, including Boehler, the source involved in the negotiations said. <\/p>\n
\u201cStubbornness in Hamas also unhelpful. They need to account for the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,\u201d the source said. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the discussions continue with the Israeli team led by Dermer, but which still includes security professionals working on the technical details. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli team is putting a lot of effort, but the way it\u2019s being managed tactically from the top,\u201d the source said, \u201cthe current structure of the negotiation team is not as helpful as needed for progress.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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When discussions began over releasing Israeli hostages shortly after the October 7 attack by Hamas, the negotiators tasked to strike a deal were mostly intelligence and security professionals. But in February, Israel made an important change that those now involved say has had a profound slowing effect on the discussions to resurrect the broken ceasefire: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}