Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, discusses how the U.S. Jewish community is responding to the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Washington

Ron Halber, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, shared the U.S. Jewish community's reaction to the recent Gaza peace plan. He noted widespread joy at the release of 20 hostages, tempered by concern for those still held and the broader security situation. Halber emphasized that lasting peace in Gaza would require the disarmament and removal of Hamas, a condition built into the current agreement. He also pointed to the shift in regional attitudes, including a rare Arab League declaration against Hamas's future role in Gaza, and praised U.S. presidential efforts and regional pressure that contributed to the deal. The conversation reflected cautious optimism, with hopes that more moderate forces may emerge and pave the way for a sustainable peace.

U.S. Jewish community reaction to Gaza peace plan

Welcome back to The Takeout, welcome to the Conversation Corner. I'm joined now by the chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Ron Halber. Ron, it's great to have you here. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. So much going on today. What's your gut level reaction and projection for the next couple of weeks? Well, I think right now what you're witnessing is Jews in the Greater Washington area, around the world, and of course in Israel, that are just overjoyed to see these 20 hostages come home. A large part of it is tempered by the fact that there still are 28 bodies remaining, and only four came home today, which is a bit of a cause of concern. But nonetheless, the pictures coming out of Israel and on social media and around the world are just pure joy. A hostage for the first time saw the sunrise, because he's been held underground for over 700 days. I covered in the opening of this show, Ron, that there have been expressions of hope and great aspirations for the future for decades in the region. How are you processing things, and how are you looking forward to the future? Well, I think I'm hoping that this deal is not merely a tactical pause, but a pathway to peace. And the only way that there is going to be peace, at least focusing on Gaza for a while, is Hamas is going to have to disarm, be dismantled, and be disposed, because the Israelis will never tolerate—and that, by the way, that's part of the agreement that's required. Right, yes, it is, built in. Built in. The Israelis will never tolerate Hamas being able, even a scintilla of a possibility, of them being able to conduct another October 7th again. Right. Because they've learned—because the structure before October 7th was a kind of understanding that Hamas could exist, there was even some tolerance of it, a lot of focus on the West Bank. Those days are over. Right. I mean, what was interesting was that on October 6th, Israel was actually considering letting tens of—giving work permits to tens of thousands of Gazans so they could work in Israel and achieve some economic self-sufficiency. And we were on the cusp of a breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia on normalization. Exactly. And my, how things changed. All that was shattered. And now the majority of Israelis, understandably, do not believe that they could support the existence of a Palestinian state, because they simply feel, based on October 7th and years of terrorism history, it would be a dagger in the heart of the nation. Ron, very quickly, how do you evaluate President Trump in all this? I think—I praise the president. I think he did a very good job. I think the president's cajoling of the parties was one of the three major reasons why this happened. The other is being Israeli military pressure. And the fact, which is actually quite startling and an excellent development for the region, is that the Arab and Muslim states forced Hamas into a corner. And just a few weeks ago, the Arab League said there is no—this is astonishing—there is no room for Hamas in Gaza's future. And when you have— A never-before-stated declaration. Never before. And that is what gives me hope. The fact that there's a realization that the axis of evil, which has been militarily defeated by Israel—you know, Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas, and Syria—that that will—that means that these extremist organizations have left, and hopefully more moderate forces can speak, and hopefully a pathway to peace can be—can take stake in the future. Ron Halber, this is an ongoing conversation. I hope you'll come back. My pleasure.

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