Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday for his statement on Monday warning Hamas of severe consequences if it does not free its remaining hostages by the time he takes office.
Netanyahu said (via Government Press Office):
I want to thank President Trump for his strong statement yesterday about the need for Hamas to release the hostages, the responsibility of Hamas, and this adds another force to our continued effort to release all the hostages.
Thank you, President Trump.
As Breitbart News reported, Trump dispensed with the Biden-Harris language of compromise, and said explicitly that Hamas would face a massive response if it did not free the 101 remaining Israeli hostages, including Americans:
He posted on Truth Social:
Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!
Many Israelis and Jews welcomed Trump’s response as a long-overdue threat of force. Other observers, including Democratic pollster Mark Penn — who has been critical of his party’s drift on Israel — also applauded Trump’s post.
Trump’s message came after Hamas tried pressuring Trump, through social media, to increase pressure on Israel. The terror group released a video of one of the American hostages who is still alive, 20-year-old Edan Alexander.
Netanyahu has long said that instead of pressuring Israel to make concessions to Hamas to entice the Iran-backed terrorist organization to strike a deal, the international community should pressure Hamas and its sponsors.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.