Boehler defends past talks with Hamas, says US could deal with terror group again

US hostage envoy Adam Boehler defends his past talks with Hamas, denies any tensions between the Trump administration and Israel, and says the odds of a hostage deal have increased.

Speaking at the annual Jerusalem Post Conference in Manhattan, Boehler says that, as a hostage envoy, his job entails “engaging with people who are in general not good people.”

“Engagement is not weakness. It does not mean you accept something or you let people off the hook,” Boehler says. “There was some interest there and we thought we would see if we can speed things up. In that particular case, it didn’t work. We walked away.”

He indicates the US could hold further talks with the terror group.

“It’s getting closer and closer to being the right time to make a deal,” he says. “If Hamas wants to come forward and make a very legitimate offer that they’re willing to stand by and release hostages, we’re always willing to listen to that.”

Boehler says he cannot comment on the current status of negotiations, but says that, in general, “We’re closer than we ever were, and part of that is because of movement that the IDF and Israel did on the ground.”

Boehler stresses that “the main force holding back a deal is Hamas,” and that the terms for the deal have become “tighter and tighter because they need to understand the longer they wait, there’s a cost.”

Asked if he is optimistic about a deal, Boehler says, “I think that as time goes on, we have increased in strength… I think the odds go up.”

He says that President Donald Trump did not intend to snub Israel by not visiting during his recent Middle East tour, and denies there are tensions between Washington and Jerusalem.

“Every foreign visit obviously is not a referendum on a particular country,” he says, noting that Trump hosted Netanyahu twice in Washington. “I don’t think the support’s ever wavered.”

Asked about the UK, France and Canada’s statement threatening “concrete actions” against Israel over its conduct in Gaza, Boehler responds, “If I were a European country, I would be particularly sensitive to how I criticize Israel.”