You’ve probably seen the footage by now of Trump and Netanyahu standing in front of cameras acting like they just pulled off the diplomatic miracle of the century. Trump got a standing ovation in the Knesset. World leaders gathered in Egypt to sign this “historic” peace deal. Everyone’s celebrating like these two men are heroes who saved the day.
Here’s what nobody’s saying loud enough: this exact deal could have happened 15 months ago. But Netanyahu blocked it. And those hostages paid the price.
Let me walk you through the actual timeline – not the bullshit victory lap version you’re seeing on the news.
Back in May 2024, the original deal was drafted by mediators from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. It was pretty straightforward: three stages starting with a six-week ceasefire. Israel releases Palestinian prisoners, Hamas releases hostages. Eventually Israel withdraws from Gaza, Hamas gives up weapons and governance, reconstruction begins. Hamas accepted this framework on May 5, 2024. President Biden presented it publicly on May 31. The UN Security Council supported it in June.
By July 2024, negotiators were closer than they’d ever been. Hamas made a huge concession – they dropped their demand for an upfront permanent ceasefire. Even the Biden administration called it a “significant adjustment.” On July 25, 2024, a senior U.S. official told CNN negotiators were “closer than we’ve ever been” and that it was “up to the Israelis to accept it.”
Then Netanyahu showed up with 11 new demands at the last minute.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth obtained the actual document and published it in September 2024. Netanyahu had added requirements that weren’t in the original May 27 proposal. The big one: Israel had to maintain permanent control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border. The May proposal offered an eventual full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu’s July 27 version demanded permanent occupation of key areas.
According to CNN, Netanyahu also changed the terms on which Palestinian prisoners could be released – removing Gaza as an option and only allowing deportation. He modified the definition of which hostages counted as “humanitarian cases.” He added new restrictions on the Rafah Crossing.
Hamas said at the time that Netanyahu had “returned to the strategy of procrastination, evasion, and avoiding reaching an agreement by setting new conditions and demands.”
A senior official from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu was “trying to sabotage the deal.” Even the right-wing Jerusalem Post reported that unnamed sources said “Netanyahu is actively sabotaging the possibility of any hostage deal, in order to prevent the collapse of his government.”
That’s the key phrase: to prevent the collapse of his government.
Netanyahu’s coalition depends on two far-right parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. They hold 14 crucial seats. And they’ve repeatedly threatened to bring down the government if Netanyahu agrees to any deal that doesn’t result in the complete destruction of Hamas. Back in June 2024, according to Haaretz, both ministers announced they would resign if the hostage release deal was adopted. Ben-Gvir called the deal “total defeat” and “a victory for terrorism.” Smotrich said he wouldn’t be part of a government that agreed to end the war without destroying Hamas.
So Netanyahu was stuck. Accept a deal and his government falls. Keep the war going and the hostages stay in captivity – but he stays in power and out of prison. Because let’s not forget the guy is literally facing bribery, fraud, and corruption charges. Being prime minister is his only immunity.
On August 29, 2024, there was a heated security cabinet meeting. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Netanyahu of forcing the Philadelphi demand on a military that didn’t think it was necessary. According to both The Times of Israel and Axios, Gallant said Israel had to choose between staying in Philadelphi and getting the hostages back. He was isolated and outvoted thanks to Netanyahu.
Then came September 2024. Six hostages were found dead in a Gaza tunnel. The IDF assessed that Hamas guards murdered them as Israeli troops closed in. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said “the finding of the bodies is a direct result of Netanyahu’s thwarting of the deals.” Over 500,000 Israelis participated in nationwide strikes and demonstrations. People were furious. The hostage families demanded Netanyahu stop wearing the yellow ribbon pin – a symbol of support for the hostages – because his actions showed he didn’t actually care about bringing them home.
When President Biden said 90% of the deal was completed in September 2024, Netanyahu told Fox News “that’s exactly inaccurate” and “there’s not a deal in the making.” He directly contradicted his own ally. Netanyahu was unequivocal: “Unfortunately, it’s not close.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid repeatedly offered Netanyahu a political “safety net” – promising that opposition parties would support the coalition if his far-right partners quit over a hostage deal. Netanyahu refused to take him up on it.
This pattern continued for months. In January 2025 – nine months ago – Ben-Gvir actually bragged about it. He posted on X that “in the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time.” He openly admitted to sabotaging hostage negotiations for political leverage. He called on Smotrich to join him in stopping the deal again.
Israel’s own security establishment kept pushing for flexibility. Multiple IDF commanders told The New York Times that releasing hostages could only be achieved through diplomacy. General Gadi Eisenkot publicly stated that Israel should “rescue civilians, ahead of killing an enemy.” Even Egypt got fed up – at one point in August 2024, Egypt refused to even pass along an Israeli proposal to Hamas because they deemed it objectionable.
So what changed? Trump got anxious about the Nobel Peace Prize and – just ten days ago –
announced his 20-point peace plan at the White House with Netanyahu standing right next to him. Hamas agreed to it the next day. And suddenly Netanyahu was on board.
Trump’s plan? Basically the same framework that’s been on the table since May 2024. Ceasefire, hostage release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, eventual Israeli withdrawal, Hamas gives up weapons and governance. The details Trump is taking credit for? They’ve been negotiated for over a year.
Netanyahu even had the nerve to lie about it in his October 4 video statement. He claimed that anyone saying “Hamas was ready a year or even two years ago to free all our hostages without a full withdrawal from Gaza” was spreading “a complete lie.” He insisted the only reason Hamas changed their stance was “the military and diplomatic pressure we brought to bear.”
But that’s backwards. The Israeli newspaper that obtained the July 2024 document proved Netanyahu was lying. Hamas had dropped their demands and was ready to deal. Netanyahu was the one who blocked it by adding 11 new requirements at the last minute. He’s rewriting history to justify why those hostages spent an extra 15 months in captivity.
Yesterday when those 20 living hostages came home – and four bodies out of the 28 that were supposed to be returned – everyone celebrated Trump and Netanyahu as heroes. Trump stood in the Knesset and said Israel “did what it had to do” and claimed his “pivotal leadership” made this possible. Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “firm support.” They both acted like they invented peace in the Middle East.
What they were really celebrating was these two men finally accepting a deal that should have happened 15 months ago. Those hostages spent an extra 15 months in captivity – some of them died in tunnels – so Netanyahu could keep his coalition intact and Trump could get his photo op. The families who spent over two years not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead paid the price for Netanyahu’s political survival and Trump’s ego. And yesterday these two stood there accepting applause like they’d performed some kind of miracle instead of what they actually did: drag out a hostage crisis for over a year to serve their own interests.