Forty-five years ago, more than 50 American citizens and diplomats were taken hostage and held captive in Iran for 444 days. Today, 100 Israeli men, women, and children — including 7 Americans — marked 444 days held hostage by Iran-backed terrorists in Gaza.
The hostages are enduring unimaginable cruelty, torture, and abuse at the hands of barbaric Hamas murderers.
Today, Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted Farhan al-Qadi, a Muslim Bedouin citizen of Israel who was rescued by the IDF four months ago, and Malki Shem Tov, the father of Omer who is still being held in Hamas captivity.
"Their shocking stories underscore the urgent need to bring everyone home," Herzog said. "This is a moral imperative."
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides and Former White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien wrote a joint op-ed in The Wall Street Journal today demanding that all seven American hostages be released at the outset of any hostage-ceasefire agreement.
"We, like the presidents we served, don’t always agree on how to serve them. But we are united in our belief that the seven U.S. hostages still in Gaza, along with the other 93 hostages, must come home now."
"Hamas and their backers must hear the message loud and clear: Release the Americans in the first phase of the deal. All of them," they write. "Release the American Seven and remember their names at your holiday celebrations this week: Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel. This is the best deal you are ever going to see, Hamas." Read the WSJ op-ed here.
'60 Minutes' interviews Mossad agents on pager plot against Hezbollah
Last night, CBS' '60 Minutes' profiled two former members of the Mossad who had leading roles in the pager and walkie-talkie operations against Hezbollah terrorists in September.
"Mossad created a bomb in a pocket – and tricked Hezbollah fighters into unwittingly wearing these devices on their bodies," Leslie Stahl says. "The repercussions of the plot have been dramatic, including aiding in the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the weakening of Iran, and the decimating of the target of the plot: Hezbollah."
Watch the 60 Minutes segment and read the transcript here:
🎥 WATCH: Bereaved 10/7 survivor and Arab-Israeli singer perform 'Hurricane'
Last night during the Israeli talent contest The Next Star, Daniel Weiss, a survivor of the Hamas massacre on Kibbutz Be'eri, joined Arab-Israeli singer Valerie Hamaty for a moving rendition of “Hurricane,” the song Eden Golan performed at the international Eurovision contest last year.
Their emotional performance of the song received a score of 95%, the highest of the night, from the judges. The winner of the contest will represent Israel at Eurovision 2025.
Show notes: Over the past week, we have seen headline after headline, indicating that Israel and Hamas appear to be closer than ever to a ceasefire and hostage deal.
How legitimate are these reports - is this for real? What political conditions, both in Israel and among key players in these negotiations, could allow for such a deal to be finalized?
To help us understand, and to briefly discuss the recent Houthi attacks, Nadav Eyal returns to the podcast.
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