US Envoy Defends Talks With Hamas, Says US Isn’t an ‘Agent’ of Israel

Israel objected to the US engaging with Hamas directly

On Sunday, Adam Boehler, President Trump’s special envoy for hostages, defended his direct talks with Hamas in the face of Israeli objections, saying the US is not an “agent” of Israel.

Israeli media has reported that Israel expressed strong objections to the talks once it learned about them. According to The Times of Israel, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer “lashed out” at Boehler in a phone call.

“I spoke with Ron, and I’m sympathetic. He has someone that he doesn’t know well making direct contact with Hamas,” Boehler told CNN host Jake Tapper. “Maybe I would see them and say, look, they don’t have horns growing out of their head. They’re actually guys like us. They’re pretty nice guys.”

Boehler continued, “So he doesn’t know me. And there are big stakes. He lives in a country where, if it sets certain precedents, then it will hurt or help a lot of other people. So I understand the consternation and the concern. And I wasn’t upset. At the same time, we’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play.”

Adam Boehler at the White House when he was CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation on April 14, 2020 (Pool/ABACA via Reuters Connect)

Axios reporter Barak Ravid, a former IDF intelligence officer, was the first to report on the US-Hamas talks. His report said the US didn’t fully brief Israel on the talks and that Israel learned about them through “other channels.”

The talks reportedly focused on the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old IDF soldier who grew up in New Jersey and was taken prisoner by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Edan is the only Israeli hostage with US citizenship who is believed to be alive. Hamas is holding the bodies of four other dual Israeli-American citizens.

Boehler, who was Jared Kushner’s college roommate, also said he thinks there’s a chance of a long-term deal even though Israel has been ramping up its siege on Gaza and is blatantly violating the initial ceasefire deal that was reached in January.

“With respect to the Hamas situation, I do think there’s hope. I think that Israel has done a wonderful, masterful job eliminating Hamas, Hezbollah, a number of other enemies in the state that makes things possible that weren’t possible before,” Boehler said.

“And I think you could see something like a long-term truce, where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree they’re not part of the political party going forward,” he added.

For its part, Hamas has said that it doesn’t need to govern post-war Gaza and that it would only disarm if a Palestinian state is established, an idea Israel strongly rejects.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.