Israelis are grateful for America’s help in hopefully bringing the Hamas war to an end. The Trump administration’s intervention - pressing Hamas’s backers and leveraging U.S. influence - played a decisive role in forcing movement on a deal that could bring the hostages home.
But let’s not lose sight of the larger truth: Donald Trump didn’t create this moment. Israel did.
Everything that allowed Washington to act - every ounce of leverage - came from months of Israeli action and sacrifice. The IDF fought through Gaza’s dense urban maze, destroying Hamas’s war machine piece by piece. The air force kept Hezbollah and Iran guessing with precision strikes and daring operations. Israel with its strike in Doha turned up the diplomatic heat on Qatar, the financial lifeline that kept Hamas alive.
That combination of military determination and strategic patience is what changed the facts on the ground. It was not rhetoric or press conferences that forced Hamas to the table - it was the relentless pressure of an army and a people unwilling to accept life under terror again.
And through it all, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held the course. Despite unending Monday-morning quarterbacking - from some hostage families who demanded instant results, from retired IDF generals who suddenly discovered perfect hindsight, and from out-of-office politicians nursing old grudges - Netanyahu kept his eye on the one goal that mattered: Israel’s security.
He refused to trade hard-won battlefield achievements for headlines or applause. He ignored the noise and nastiness and trusted the men and women on the front lines. Leadership sometimes means absorbing the criticism so the country can stay focused on victory. That’s what he did.
It is fashionable in some quarters to give Trump all the credit. But diplomacy doesn’t work in a vacuum. It works when backed by strength and sacrifice - the kind that can’t be conjured up in a Washington conference room.
When Trump’s team called for movement, they could do so only because Israel had already reshaped the landscape. Hamas was broken militarily, isolated politically, and losing its grip on the people of Gaza. Qatar and Iran were under pressure. The message had been delivered: Israel was fighting for its survival, and it would not stop until its citizens and hostages were safe.
That is what allowed America to act effectively - not wishful thinking, but Israeli resolve.
So yes, thank you, Mr. Trump, for using America’s weight at the right time. But let us never forget who made that timing possible: the Israeli soldiers who fought and fell, the commanders who made impossible decisions, the families who waited and prayed, and a nation that stood firm through a year of heartbreak and resilience.
Israel pays the price so diplomacy can succeed. And once again, that is what happened here.
When the headlines proclaim, “Trump Ends the Hamas War,” remember the truth behind them: Israel made it possible.