US President Donald Trump’s Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler is in the spotlight in Israel. This comes after a round of interviews with Israeli media. Boehler appeared to do the interviews with Israeli media to outreach and explain the US administration’s initiative for direct talks with Hamas. The direct talks had come to light over the weekend and there were a lot of questions about why the Trump administration had appeared to shift tactics.
This comes as Hamas has refused to extend a ceasefire deal that expired on March 1, leaving many Israelis wondering why Hamas appears to still have a ceasefire deal in place while not returning any hostages.
Boehler spoke to The Jerusalem Post’s Amichai Stein and said that he had reached out to Hamas. He said the engagement with Hamas is not a concession. “We don’t think meeting somebody is a concession,” he said. “That’s not what a concession is. Giving $1 billion, like the prior administration did, more than $1 billion to Iran, that is a concession.” Behind the scenes Israel’s current government appears to have been non-plussed by the US direct outreach to Hamas. This includes what was described as a tense conversation with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer last Tuesday.
The challenge for Boehler in bringing his message to Israel is to stay on message. The interviews on Sunday didn’t always accomplish that and this has left questions. While Boehler says that he loves Israel and views it as a great ally, he is also clear that the US is making its own decisions. The US is not an “agent of Israel,” was one line that stood out in his interviews. However, Israel’s Channel 11 reported on Monday morning that the US will coordinate talks with Israel. This comes after it appeared that there were multiple tracks of talks taking place. First of all, there was Israel’s push to extend phase one of the ceasefire, which began on March 1 when the first deal’s phase ended. Hamas said to “no” to Israel about the extension.
Reports last week indicated Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff had come up with a way to bridge this dispute, with a two-stage hostage release. Then more reports said that talks centered around releasing around 10 hostages for 60 days of ceasefire. This would be a much worse deal than the first phase of the ceasefire when 33 hostages were released in 42 days.
There is also mixed messaging on whether Boehler’s talks with Hamas will actually bring results. This seems to be the key issue. When Trump sent Witkoff into the room to get a deal in January, Witkoff delivered rapid results and a deal took shape in the days before Trump came into office. It’s a positive thing to move heaven and earth to bring hostages home. Trump has made it clear he cares about the hostages.
He met with several freed hostages in Washington recently. Trump has been adamant that the hostages must be released. Boehler says his talks have revolved around the US hostages held by Hamas as well as all the hostages. Trump has always been willing to do unorthodox things to get a deal. He met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un during his first term. He has sought outreach to Russia and Iran.
Trump has also made a number of comments about Gaza. He has suggested the people in Gaza be re-settled so that it can be rebuilt. He has suggested Israel could turn Gaza over to the US. He has said Israel can do whatever it wants. He has warned Hamas about hell “breaking loose” if it doesn’t free hostages.
Back in February, he also said Hamas should free all the hostages when Hamas appeared ready to violate the first phase of the agreement. Arab states in the region have opposed Trump’s plan, while Israel’s government has paid lip service to supporting it. It’s not clear if Hamas now feels it can call the Trump and Israeli bluffs about Gaza, or if Hamas is empowered by Arab opposition to the plan, or empowered by backing from Doha. Many things are in the air and it is into this maelstrom that Boehler stepped over the last week.
At the end of the day, Boehler has a thankless task. Hostage talks have often become a snake’s den, with competing agendas, sabotage and appearances of Doha’s double dealing. Israel held fruitless talks for a year since the breakdown of the first ceasefire on December 1, 2023. In many cases it didn’t appear Jerusalem took the issue of the hostages seriously and some Israeli politicians openly said returning hostages is not a priority, they even voted against bringing them home.
Commentators slandered the hostage families and claimed their protests were helping Hamas. In the most bizarre incident in January 2024, Israel claimed to transfer medicine to the hostages in a cardboard box in a deal with France and Qatar. The box looked more like a prop, quickly taped together, than a serious effort, leaving questions as to whether anyone in Jerusalem even believed the aid would reach the hostages.
Boehler knows the challenge ahead. He was involved with the effort to free Marc Fogel from Russia. However, stepping into the limelight of Israeli media and competing interests in Israel, may be more of a challenge than dealing with a more simple linear issue of freeing an American from Russia.
In terms of freeing Americans abroad, the road may be hard, but the coverage will be positive because everyone wants people like Fogel to come home. This is a big difference from how hostages are treated in some sectors in Israel. One Israeli politician, when asked if he had seen an interview with former hostage Eli Sharabi, said he had “more important things to do.” Sharabi was held in Gaza for 491 days and his wife and daughters were murdered on October 7. Trump met with Sharabi and embraced him, in contrast to how he was treated by some people at home in Israel.
At home, Israeli hostages are sometimes treated like they are unwanted, and their supporters have been slandered, accused of helping Hamas. It is into this lion’s den that Boehler ended up when he spoke with Israeli media. In America, no one hates the families of hostages or accuses them of helping the enemy, no politicians say “I have more important things to do” when asked about Americans such as Fogel.
Different discourse in Israel
The way people discuss this issue in Israel is completely different than the US. Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, wrote on social media that “- If this were a Biden envoy, he would be burned here in the fires of hell for his delusional words and his meetings with Hamas.” Others have pointed out that Boehler appears to have misspoken in his interviews, appearing to describe Hamas members who were released as “hostages” and Israelis as “prisoners” at various points.
“I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people. And as President Donald Trump has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesn’t RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY,” Boehler wrote on social media on Sunday evening. The fallout from the engagement with Hamas and the interviews may blow over, or it may not. Time will tell. If a deal happens then many will be able to take credit. As is often said, victory has many fathers. Failure is an orphan. It’s worth reaching out to Hamas if something happens. If Hamas feels empowered and a deal is now further off, then this will not be a positive development.
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