Hostage deal shows Hamas took Trump's 'hell to pay' threat seriously

Veteran diplomat Shahar Azani writes that the hostage deal between Hamas and Israel coming just days before President-elect Trump takes office is no coincidence.

Shahar Azani is the former spokesperson of Israel’s Consulate in New York and a veteran Israeli diplomat. He is the CEO of the Book Family Foundation as well as Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI). He served in Israel’s Foreign Ministry for over 16 years in Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, Nairobi and New York. Before embarking on this career path, he practiced Law at Haim Zadok and Company, based in Tel Aviv, focusing on litigation. He has a law degree (LLB) as well as a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

The hostages' return is both painful and joyous for Israelis traumatized by the war. Reuniting those innocent people with their families brings tears of joy to our eyes, knowing well the kind of torment, suffering, torture, and abuse they suffer at the hands of Hamas' merciless and cruel captors. Yet, it is also a harsh reminder of the magnitude of Israel's failure and of the need to guarantee that such an event never happens again.Trump's "hell to pay" was a clear message not just to Hamas, but to all rogue actors of the Middle East. It was a manifestation of the incoming administration's clear moral vision and ability to tell right from wrong, a vision that has the chance to herald a new episode in the future of this tumultuous and fickle region. A clear line stretches between this statement and January 2020, when, at the direction of then-President Trump, the U.S. military took out Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. 

Soleimani was the architect of evil, responsible for the Islamic Regime's "Ring of Fire" doctrine, surrounding Israel with hostile forces including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as supporting other nefarious terrorist forces, such as the Houthis in Yemen. The assassination of Soleimani sent shockwaves through the region and the ranks of the Islamic Republic's leadership, which promised revenge against Trump himself and senior officials in his administration.