Netanyahu Hopes for a Christmas Present
Also, a new game changing weapon has arrived, and Israel celebrates a romantic victory against Hamas.
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu reading documents presented by Jared Kushner in September 2024. (Whitehouse.gov)
It’s Monday, December 29, and the day has finally arrived: Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump are meeting in Mar-a-Lago today for this Christmas season’s most important gift exchange. Some are predicting a mismatch. I’m not so sure. It might be one of those rare moments where each man gives the other exactly what he wants.
Netanyahu knows exactly what he wants for Christmas—more of the same. Israeli troops stay in 51 percent of Gaza, periodically striking Hamas. According to some reports, Trump wants the opposite—to move ahead to the second phase of the peace deal: Israeli forces pulling out, with or without Hamas being fully disarmed. But I’m not so sure.
I don’t think Trump cares about racing to the next stage of the peace plan, and IDF withdrawal is not on his to-demand list. I think he has an order of priorities:
Peace in the Middle East—ideally with a Nobel Prize to match.
Quiet in Gaza—and yes, still Nobel material.
The completion of the peace plan—even more Nobel-worthy, but more risky.
Let’s be honest, peace in the Middle East has always been a dream. And the peace plan? It’s becoming just as unlikely.
It is worth mentioning, the plan wasn’t dead on arrival. Very few expected all the live hostages to be released, after that anything seemed possible. But two months later, the plan in critical condition. The much-promised International Stabilization Force hasn’t materialized, Hamas has firmly regained its grip on Gaza and has begun announcing some very creative definitions of the term “demilitarization.”
So, what does Trump do when priority three seems unlikely? Stick with two.
Trump managed the ultimate media coup—he got the world’s biggest story to repeat his victory on a loop. Every time someone mentions Gaza, they have to say “Trump” before they say “peace.” Even if the peace plan doesn’t proceed, quiet in Gaza is a victory—perhaps even a Nobel one.
Does that mean Trump has given up on the peace plan?
Not yet. Let’s clarify what Bibi wants.
Trump is not ready to see “war renewed” splashed across the front pages—but he doesn’t want “peace plan abandoned” either. Fortunately for him, that’s not what Bibi is asking for, at least not yet. What Netanyahu wants is permission to keep degrading Hamas and to stay on the yellow line without the shadow of withdrawal looming over him. None of this requires a denunciation of the plan itself and Trump can very easily justify Israel’s extended stay on Hamas’s unwillingness to disarm.
Maybe, in a few months, when the peace plan has very clearly expired, Bibi might ask for more. But for this holiday season, status quo will do.
But there is still a question unaddressed: If Trump himself isn’t pushing for withdrawal—then who is?
If I had to guess, I’d say his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Palestinian moderation has always been a potent article of faith in Kushner’s worldview. It was the cornerstone of his “Deal of the Century” back in Trump’s first term. Unlike that of most Israelis, Kushner’s faith in that vision didn’t die on October 7. He still seems to see a better Gaza waiting just beyond phase two.
Unfortunately for Kushner, his friends in the Gulf have grown more Israeli in that respect. The Emiratis and the Saudis—though they might hesitate to back Israel in public—know only Israel will fight Hamas, and Hamas cannot be allowed to survive.
So maybe both men get what they came for. Trump gets his quiet; Netanyahu gets his status quo. Unfortunately, the Christmasy “peace on earth” might have to wait until next year.
The Or Eitan System being delivered yesterday. (IDF)
Israel is officially in the next generation of warfare. Yesterday, the first operational laser defense system, the Or Eitan, was delivered to the army and began integration into Israel’s defense array.
To understand why this is so monumental, let’s do some history.
For most of the past century, military technology favored the terrorist. States gained the ability to flatten cities, but they struggled to stop a few extremists with Kalashnikovs and RPGs.
Imagine Al Qaeda attempting a mass shooting in the 19th century. By the time they let off a single badly aimed shot and went to reload their musket, they would already be incapacitated. If they ran into the hills of Afghanistan to hide, their ability to make more black powder, cannonballs, and muskets would be limited.
That changed once cheap, portable violence arrived: RPGs, IEDs, suicide vests. All of this concentration and lowering of the price for deadly force favored the terrorist.
But what about modern tech that only states had access to?
Well, that’s an advantage and a disadvantage—states could stop a ramshackle rocket for the low price of $40,000 per plumbing pipe filled with manure.
Napoleon said an army marches on its stomach. These days, it marches on its budget—and every overpriced interceptor is one less step it can afford.
This is where Or Eitan comes in. With this system it now costs cents to destroy a missile, it costs less for Israel to intercept than Hamas to fire. This is one of the very few modern systems where a country has both the economic and technological advantage against a terrorist group.
Let’s take a different example: one Abrams tank costs $10 million. A Ford pickup with a guy with an RPG in the back costs one percent of that. With the Or Eitan, Israel has the tank—at the cost of the Ford pickup.
I have to give it to the anti-Semites on this one: Jewish Space Lasers—great idea.
But it would be remiss of me not to mention the inspiration for the name “Or Eitan.”
Dov Oster, one of the system’s developers, named the system after his son, Eitan Oster, an Israeli commando killed in southern Lebanon in 2024. Before his last mission, Eitan sent his family a video message. In the video, he said that he was fighting this war despite the high costs because “we have the duty to end with a decisive outcome—for the sake of future generations.”
Eitan’s sacrifice helped protect Israel today, and the system that bears his name will do so for generations to come.
The engagment of survivors Ilana Gritzovsky and Matan Zangauker. (X/Einav Zangauker)
Israel is celebrating another victory over Hamas, this one of a more romantic variety. Former hostage Matan Zangauker, who spent 738 days in Hamas captivity, proposed last night to his partner—and fellow survivor—Ilana Gritzewsky (She said yes.)
The two met while working together, fell in love, and were kidnapped side by side from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Ilana was freed in the first hostage deal that November. Matan was released this October.
You might remember Ilana from her speech at the UN Security Council last summer, where she confronted the international organizations, she once believed in.
“When I was a child in Mexico, I learned to believe in human rights, in UNICEF, in the Red Cross,” she told the ambassadors. “Today I ask—where were these organizations when I needed them most?”
She spoke with unflinching courage, describing the terror of captivity and the sexual violence inflicted by Hamas. During her captivity, she lost 24 pounds in just 55 days.
Until two months ago, her story was one of endurance and courage. Today, we get to add romance—and a happy ending.
Matan’s mother, Einav Zangauker, posted the engagement photo with three simple words: “My victory picture.” It’s hers, of course. But it’s also Israel’s.
When a couple marries in the Jewish tradition, we bless them to “build an everlasting house in Israel.” It doesn’t mean their home will be free of sorrow—Jewish history attests to that. We wish their home to be everlasting, meaning that those who try to destroy it will not win.
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