FIDF LIVE Briefing: Daniel Flesch, Senior Policy Analyst for Middle East and North Africa at the Allison Center for National Security - February 2, 2025

FIDF CEO Steven Weil is joined by Daniel Flesch, Senior Policy Analyst for Middle East and North Africa at the Allison Center for National Security, which is a subsidiary of the Heritage Foundation, the largest conservative think tank in the country. Daniel offers his perspective on the recent ceasefire deal with Hamas. Flesch explains that while the ratio of terrorists being released by Israel to hostages being released by Hamas is a lopsided 50-to-1, Gilad Shalit was released in exchange for 1,027 terrorists, one of whom being Yahya Sinwar. So, with that in mind, the deal isn’t as bad as many of its detractors have made it out to be. It was an opportune time for Israel to make a wing at a deal, due to both the change in administration in the US, and with the threats in Syria, Lebanon and Iran all being significantly diminished. Flesch clarifies that we are currently in phase one of a three phase deal with Hamas, and he is pessimistic that we will make it to phase two and three, most notably due to Hamas’ recent breach of the deal when they released soldiers instead of hostages. However, Flesch is very optimistic about Israel’s future, due to the economic growth, the global display of its might during the multi-front war, and a new generation of young leaders in Israel who proved that they can set aside ideological differences to defend the nation of Israel in remarkable dramatic fashion.  Donate NOW at FIDF.org for the fastest and most direct way to give IDF Soldiers what they need most. 100% of your contribution will go to meet their emergency humanitarian needs.