“We got an absolute commitment from the Biden administration and from Prime Minister Netanyahu that they understand the urgency of this moment,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said.
Mike Wagenheim
(JNS)
Family members of American hostages held in Gaza said, after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that they feel more than they have in months that a deal for a ceasefire and the return of their loved ones is in reach.
“What we did find by the end of the meeting, which was productive and honest, is that we feel probably more optimistic than we have since the first round of releases in late November, early December,” when hostages were released as part of a temporary ceasefire, said Jonathan Dekel-Chen.
Dekel-Chen’s 35-year-old son Sagui Dekel-Chen is being held in Gaza. The Dekel-Chen family is one of six—out of seven—families with U.S. hostages being held in Gaza that participated in Thursday’s meeting at the White House.
Adi and Yael Alexander (parents of Edan Alexander); Ruby and Hagit Chen (parents of Itay Chen); Ronen and Orna Neutra (parents of Omer Neutra); Liz Naftali (great-aunt of Abigail Mor Edan); Aviva Siegel and Elan Tiv Siegel (wife and daughter, respectively, of Keith Siegel); and Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg (parents of Hersch Goldberg-Polin) were the other participants, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Biden was joined in the meeting by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, and National Security Council coordinator for Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, among others. Alongside Netanyahu were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog, among others.
“We got an absolute commitment from the Biden administration and from Prime Minister Netanyahu that they understand the urgency of this moment now, to waste no time and to complete this deal as it currently stands, with as little change as humanly possible,” Dekel-Chen told reporters.
The families insisted that they could not go into details about what they heard in the meeting that made them so optimistic.
Rachel Goldberg told reporters that she thought that Biden bowing out of the presidential race on Sunday will help—rather than his “lame duck” status harming—the chances of reaching an agreement.
“I actually think it allows the president to be laser focused on the things that are true priorities to him,” Goldberg said. “Saving human beings, cherished human beings—115 of them, eight of whom are U.S. citizens—is one paramount issue for him.”
“I think not having to worry about all the things surrounding a re-election allows him the freedom to focus on this and we wish him godspeed in that task,” Goldberg added.
Dekel-Chen said that the fact that Biden and any future U.S. president believe in the urgency of the deal is an invaluable asset.
“We’ve got a rare moment now where the current president of the United States and anybody who might become president of the United States—both Vice President Harris and Donald Trump—are all aligned in saying this deal must get done now,” he said.
“Anybody on any side who makes the mistake in political calculus that there’s benefit in waiting will find out that that logic is wrong,” Dekel-Chen added.
Naftali, whose great niece was released last year, told reporters that the relationship between Netanyahu and Biden was “sometimes rocky,” but now “it is solid.”
“Right now you see that these two men understand that the hostages need to be released,” she said. “They also understand that the fighting needs to stop. So when you ask that question about where we are, think about this: you have the President of the United States Joe Biden and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu coming together for a meeting and then inviting us and listening to us and sharing with us and committing to us the rapid return of our hostages.”
Featured Image: U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet with the families of American hostages held by Hamas on July 25, 2024. Credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO.
