US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if the hostages were not freed by his inauguration on January 20 was aimed not only at Hamas but also Israel, a source familiar with conversations that his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and mediators in Doha tells the Wall Street Journal.
According to the person cited in the report, Witkoff told Netanyahu after traveling to Jerusalem last Shabbat that decisions needed to be made and he needed to authorize Israeli negotiators to make them, but if the premier did not want to do so then all those involved in the talks should pack up and head home.
“The president has been a great friend of Israel,” the person quotes Witkoff as telling Netanyahu, “and now it’s time to be a friend back.”
Witkoff reportedly delivered a similar message to Arab mediators, saying now was the time to seal an agreement and end the diplomatic to and fro.
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