US President Donald Trump may have been disappointed to miss out on the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, but here in Israel, most citizens would gladly award him the Israeli Security Prize. The return of all the hostages in a single operation is an extraordinary achievement – a testament to Israel’s social solidarity and to the Jewish belief that “Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved an entire world.”
We will all embrace the families of the freed hostages and wish swift recovery to those returning home, and dignified remembrance for those who did not. This achievement was made possible by the courage and sacrifice of all Israel’s soldiers, [notably] the fallen and the wounded – whose bravery on the battlefield paved the way for the agreement that brought every hostage home.
Trump succeeded in convincing Prime Minister Netanyahu to do what perhaps should have been done right after Israel’s victory over Iran – or even earlier, during the second phase of the January 2025 deal. He grasped what Netanyahu did not: that the war was inflicting immense diplomatic damage and that “total victory” in Gaza was unattainable without killing the hostages, sacrificing soldiers, and harming civilians whom Hamas hides behind.
The US president understood the Israeli public mood far better than did the government: An overwhelming 80% supported bringing the hostages home, even at the cost of ending the war.
At the same time, credit is due to Israel’s military campaign, which created the diplomatic opening that Trump ultimately seized – even if it was not the decisive factor.
Netanyahu's decision to concentrate military pressure on Hamas’s center of gravity in Gaza was strategically sound, and the operation was managed with precision by IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir, who avoided harming the hostages while minimizing casualties.
The military effort added pressure and combined effectively with diplomatic leverage on Hamas, producing an agreement far better than any of the previous proposals.
Trump’s envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – were welcomed with rare warmth at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands waved Israeli and American flags and chanted “Thank you, Trump!” The envoys’ speeches captured the public’s gratitude, presenting the agreement as only the first step toward lasting peace.
Trump forced the deal on Netanyahu while enlisting Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey – all of which, for the first time, applied genuine pressure on Hamas to comply.
With diplomatic skill reminiscent of Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy after 1973, Trump crafted a framework filled with constructive ambiguity, likely supported by conflicting assurances to each side. That ambiguity allows both sides to claim a victory narrative: Israel highlights the hostages’ release, Hamas’s military defeat, and the creation of an international mechanism to dismantle and replace its rule; Hamas boasts that it withstood Israel’s might for two years, forced its withdrawal, freed its imprisoned terrorists, and revived the Palestinian issue while securing guarantees against renewed war.
A three-phase plan
The Trump plan unfolds in three phases. We are now in phase I, whose parameters are unusually precise and measurable – a schedule specifying the exact number of hostages to be released, the hours allotted for each stage, and a clearly delineated map of IDF redeployment and withdrawal routes. Everything is counted, timed, and verified; there is no ambiguity.
Phase two will be longer and harder – months, perhaps years – and it will decide who truly wins. Its goals are disarming Hamas and replacing its regime. Here, Arab states, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (who will head the international mechanism), the United Nations, and the United States will play central roles.
At this second stage lie the side letters and understandings that have not been made public. These documents, exchanged between Washington and Jerusalem, define Israel’s freedom of action if Hamas fails to fulfill its obligations – specifically, to disarm and transfer governance to the civilian and regional actors named in the plan. It is to be hoped that Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer received a clear written assurance that in such a scenario, Israel retains the unqualified right to act militarily – as it does against Hezbollah in the North – to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its power in Gaza.
Trump’s team has forged an unprecedented Arab-Palestinian coalition supporting Hamas’s demilitarization – something unheard of in the region, from Iraq to Lebanon.
The only active opposition comes from Iran and its proxies, who view the plan as a strategic defeat that weakens their axis and isolates Tehran. Their resistance underscores how profoundly this agreement shifts the regional balance.
If Hamas is not fully disarmed, it could re-emerge under a weak but “legitimate” temporary government, controlling Gaza from the shadows – a Hezbollah-style model Israel must prevent.
This will require close coordination with Washington and regional partners, clear criteria for demilitarization, firm rules for pre-empting re-armament, and a defined Israeli security perimeter – a policy radically different from the failed “containment” strategy of the decade before October 7. Phase three, the distant stage, would outline a conditional pathway to a Palestinian state – only after Hamas is disarmed and the Palestinian Authority reformed.
There was never going to be “total victory.” But the current deal offers the potential for a “smart victory.” The international community – with the sole exception of Iran – now supports the hostages’ release, Hamas’s disarmament, and the principle that Hamas will play no role in Gaza’s future.
Israel retains strong leverage: One of the plan’s core clauses explicitly conditions Gaza’s reconstruction on its demilitarization, even if gradual.
The end of the Gaza war marks a genuine turning point
The families of the hostages will finally embrace their loved ones – or bring them home for burial – and the nation can begin to heal. Israel now has a chance to emerge from unprecedented isolation and the “super-Sparta” mindset that alienated much of the world, regaining its place as a legitimate, advanced, and valued partner for the region, for America, and for the world.
Regionally, Israel must ensure that the new balance tilts toward the Israel-UAE-Saudi axis and the peace-camp nations – Jordan and Egypt – not toward a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned bloc led by Turkey and Qatar, though both earned Trump’s gratitude for pressuring Hamas to accept the deal.
Domestically, this is also a moment of reckoning: an opportunity to rebuild and rejuvenate the IDF after two years of intense fighting on seven fronts, to revive normalization, and to re-energize the regional coalition against Iran. It will not be easy.
The damage to Israel is severe, and overcoming it will require fresh, courageous, and visionary leadership.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin is a former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate and the founding president of MIND Israel.