Trump-Israel tensions begin to surface over Gaza hostage talks
Rare tensions are surfacing between Israel and President Donald Trump’s administration, after the U.S. engaged in direct negotiations with Hamas regarding hostages in Gaza, including an American national.
As details emerged about talks between Adam Boehler, the U.S. envoy for hostages, and a top Hamas representative, Israeli leaders quietly expressed their displeasure, saying Hamas is a terrorist organization whose words can’t be trusted or taken at face value.
Boehler acknowledged in television interviews Sunday that Israel had “raised some concerns,” but said it’s helpful to hear what Hamas wants and what it’s offering. “We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play,” he noted on CNN.
The friction over Boehler’s outreach to Hamas, a group the U.S. and others designate as terrorist, is the first sign of disagreement. While Trump has made his support for Israel clear, the president’s unpredictable moves – including stunning European allies by opening direct peace talks with Russia – left officials wary.
On Monday, Avi Dichter – Israel’s Agriculture Minister and a member of the security cabinet – went public with criticism of Boehler on Israel Radio.
“This is a measure which – even if the intentions behind it are very good – the execution is very bad, very problematic,” he said. “It’s very dangerous when you undertake moves without knowing and without coordinating with the Israeli side.”
Israeli officials have repeatedly asserted that when differences appeared between their positions and the U.S. during former president Joe Biden’s administration, Hamas hardened its stand. They were delighted when Trump was elected in November, saying the two countries would work in lockstep to break the Palestinian militant group.
Despite direct talks with Hamas, Boehler told several Israeli television channels Sunday that the U.S.-Israel relationship is rock-solid, not under threat. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a radio interview on Monday that “Israel is 100% coordinated with the U.S. administration.” Still, he added that the U.S. can’t negotiate on behalf of Israelis.
Smotrich, a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, just returned from what he said was a highly productive visit with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. In the Biden era, Smotrich was shunned by Washington, unable to secure an invitation.
In his Israeli interviews, Boehler said he wasn’t only focused on the living U.S. hostage and the four dead ones held by Hamas, and that the goal was the return of all hostages. He said Hamas offered to return them in exchange for a 10-to-15 year truce and to lay down its arms.
Dichter said such talk was evidence of naïveté and the U.S. envoy had little understanding of the region or Hamas.
“I think that whoever thinks Hamas will be disarming doesn’t know Hamas and doesn’t know its ideology,” he added. The militant group had signaled willingness to cede some power, but not its rockets and rifles.
Ceasefire talks
An Israeli negotiating team is headed to Qatar later today to engage in another round of indirect talks with Hamas, brokered by officials of Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. Steve Witkoff, the Trump Mideast envoy, is expected to join.
Israel, meanwhile, says it’s preparing to go back to war against Hamas, if necessary. Most Israelis say they don’t want a return to fighting because they want priority given to returning the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom are thought to be alive.
The war began in October 2023 when thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 250. Israel’s counter-offensive has killed 48,000 Gazans, according to Hamas-run health ministry.
A 42-day first phase to a ceasefire ended more than a week ago. Some 33 hostages were freed for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a boost in aid entering Gaza. Since then, efforts to get to a second phase have faltered, with Israel barring aid from entering the coastal strip of 2 million.