Unlike the leaders of many other nations, President Donald Trump recognizes that pressure for peace in Gaza needs to be applied to Hamas — not Israel — Ariella Rada, spokesperson for the Consulate General of Israel in New York, told Newsmax Monday.
"We are very grateful to Trump and his administration," Rada said on "National Report." "They have been so supportive since the beginning of this war, and nothing of what you're seeing right now could have happened without their assistance, without their pushing of Hamas."
"One of the things that encourages us is that we see that the Trump administration is looking to pressure Hamas and not pressure Israel, as everybody else is doing, unfortunately, which is the wrong thing to do."
"You have to put pressure on Hamas," she said. "They are the terrorist organization. They are the ones that invaded Israel on Oct. 7. They are the ones that massacred. They are the ones that promised again and again to repeat Oct. 7.
"And the Trump administration and, of course, Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio, they understand who you need to put the pressure on. As I said, we're very appreciative to this administration."
Late last month, Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan that he jointly announced with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas and allied terror groups carried out a brutal attack on southern Israel.
Rada said that Israel wants to be "hopeful," but "we had a really bad experience with Hamas."
"Everybody has to remember this is a terrorist organization," she said. "Negotiating with a terrorist organization is not something that you can actually rely [on] or have hopes. One time they say this, and then they change their mind."
Although there are changes that Hamas wants to make to Trump's peace proposal, Rada said that the American president's leadership in negotiating an end to the two-year conflict has given rise to a "cautious hope" among Israelis.
"We saw before that [Hamas] were hesitant, right, when we were waiting for an answer," she said. "And then only when Trump threatened them and said, 'Look, we need a response,' then you saw that they gave a positive answer, but it was positive."
"I can tell you that from what I'm seeing in Israel, there is a cautious hope. But unfortunately, as I said, the [devil is in the details]."
"So there are changes that they want to make, which for every other person can be very minor," Rada added. "But it's very big and severe changes. And again, if it will come to a point where it's going to threaten the security of Israel, Israel is not going to accept it."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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