From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Trump envoy wasting time trying to deal with Hamas, ex-ambassador Friedman says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Israel blasts the US president’s hostage envoy for meeting with Hamas, saying talks with the group are pointless.
“This past week, President Trump brilliantly presented Hamas with a binary choice: release all the hostages and surrender, or be destroyed. It is the only path to ending the war,” David Friedman writes on X.
“If I heard [hostage envoy Adam Boehler] correctly on the Sunday news shows, he took the unprecedented step to meet with Hamas to consider a third way — whether a deal could be struck where Hamas ‘would not be involved in governing Gaza,'” he continues.
He calls any agreement with Hamas “a waste of time” which “will never be kept.”
“Attempting one is beneath the dignity of the United States,” Friedman writes. “Adam, I know you mean well but listen to your boss. The choice must remain binary.”
Meanwhile, Boehler takes to X to praise Israel for unspecified moves, saying they have made an agreement with Hamas possible.
“Israel’s actions have opened the door to a lasting truce — prisoner releases, disarmed fighters and Hamas out of politics,” writes Boehler. “We’re close.”
Israel’s actions have opened the door to a lasting truce—prisoner releases, disarmed fighters, and Hamas out of politics. We’re close. pic.twitter.com/mXpCSyUKlB
— Adam Boehler (@aboehler) March 9, 2025
The Times of Israel Community.