LETTER: Giving Trump his due
When the president does something praiseworthy, he should receive credit.
The fulfillment of the first phase of the comprehensive Trump peace plan for Israel and Gaza has occurred, thank God: it prominently included the release of the Israeli hostages.
Their families had every reason to believe that they would never see their loved ones again. I challenge any person of feeling and heart to witness the reunions without tears flowing.
The peace plan could not have been formulated without a Herculean effort, not only by the president, but by his team. Extraordinary events occurred to bring it about, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kusher, both of whom are Jewish, meeting directly with multiple officials of terrorist group Hamas.
It is tragic that a war that savaged the people of Israel and Gaza and left the latter in ruins, continued for two long years, and that the hostages endured untold horror during that time, but finally, their ordeal is over.
In this instance, the president is right: Only he could have done what has been accomplished.
I hope he recognizes that he now owns it. There are a multitude of ways in which the peace plan could become derailed, in which Israel and Hamas could again go to war with each other. It will require hard work on the part of all parties to prevent that from happening.
Now, if only the president could exhibit the desire to bring peace domestically. That would require that he end his war against Democrats, transgender individuals, members of minority groups, media organizations, law firms, universities, and everyone whom he feels has wronged him, many of whom he is persecuting through indictments that can destroy lives. Then and only then could he be a legitimate candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize that he so ardently seeks. Is he capable of it?
Oren Spiegler
Peters Township