Hostage Negotiations and Higher Education

Some thoughts on what is happening in Israel and on college campuses this week

Some thoughts today on two unrelated issues, both very much in the news. The first is the latest on the hostage negotiations The second is the series of steps taken by the Trump Administration this week targeting American higher education under the guise of fighting antisemitism.

Hostage Negotiations and Talking to Hamas

Trump’s negotiator Steve Witkoff was in the region this week and offered a new formula for a deal between Israel and Hamas which involves hostage releases in exchange for resuming aid flows into Gaza, prisoner releases, and agreement to future negotiations on ending the war. Really this is no different than the deal that was offered last week and rejected by Hamas. As I previously wrote, I would certainly have been thrilled if Hamas accepted that offer but I understand why they did not. The initial ceasefire agreement entailed a Phase 1 where in exchange for hostages Hamas received aid and release of Palestinian prisoners. But the third key component for Hamas was to negotiate on Phase 2, which entailed an agreement on an end to the war. Netanyahu refused to ever seriously engage on that piece, and now Witkoff is offering what is essentially the exact same deal. Hostages for aid and prisoners with a vague promise to negotiate the end of the war, which Hamas now knows Netanyahu won’t seriously engage on. Hamas could continue with the first formula, but the more hostages they release the less leverage they have. So, at some point they are not going to agree to that unless they say progress on a long-term truce to end the war. And sadly we may have hit that point. Though, of course I hope I am wrong and Hamas takes the deal.

The only thing that has changed is that with American support, Israel has cut off all aid going into Gaza. This is not going to change Hamas’s calculus. It is also the absolute morally wrong thing to do. You can’t withhold food, water, and medicine for more than 2 million people and punish civilians as a negotiating tactic for pressuring Hamas, which is why this is something the Biden Administration always opposed going back to the start of the war.

The other quite wild development of the week was the Trump Administration’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler holding direct negotiations with Hamas. When Netanyahu and Dermer strongly objected, Boehler did the rounds on the U.S. Sunday shows and on Israeli TV defending his approach, which was apparently approved by the White House. Those appearances involved some bold and fresh candor but also some statements that call into question how much he understands the current situation. For example when he stated that the U.S. has its own interests at play – most directly the well-being of American Edan Alexander – he is completely right. If Netanyahu is going to be difficult in the negotiations, and the U.S. wants to get its own people out, it is completely justified in pursuing its own interests. He also had no problem dismissing concerns and leaks aimed at him from Netanyahu’s closest advisor Ron Dermer.

“I don’t really care about that that much — no offense to Dermer..If it was a big deal every time Dermer got a little bit upset… Ron might have a lot of big deals every day.” A little rude for public television. But frankly, Israelis are oftentimes very direct and this kind of messaging can work with them. I’ve been in many rooms in which American officials thought they were being tough, but used traditional American diplo-speak, and it went right over the Israelis’ head or wasn’t taken seriously.

On the other hand, his media appearances also show a level of inexactness and naivete that is worrying. Mixing up the term “hostages” and “prisoners” for example when discussing Israelis and Palesitnians is deeply problematic - especially on Israeli TV. Explaining that you are looking to find the “human elements” with anyone you negotiate with, is also reasonable and something that hostage negotiators do need to do even with the worst of the worst if you want to get your people out. But why on earth would you ever go on TV and say that about your negotiations with Hamas, if your objective is to win over the Israeli public and buy some cover for your approach?

It’s unclear if Boehler is being taken off the file as some are reporting or if that’s just the usual noise around who is up and who is down in the era of Trump. But the whole episode does say something interesting about the hostage negotiations. I think it says that there is a certain advantage to being totally untethered from normal conventions like the Trump Administration is. You can just go in and try new things and break stuff and maybe some of it is a good idea (Could you imagine the political hell the Biden Administration would have taken if it tried this play?). On other hand, rigor, knowledge, and preparation also matter a great deal if you want to negotiate complex deals like those that require getting all the hostages home and ending the war.

In the ideal world perhaps we could marry some of the “I don’t care lets break stuff” attitude of Team Trump with the rigor and seriousness of Team Biden. In fact, there was one moment these two approaches came together around the Presidential transition. And the end result was the ceasefire.

Attacking American Higher Ed in the Name of Fighting Antisemitism

The other big news of the week is the Trump Administration’s targeting of Columbia university and higher education in the name of combating Antisemitism. I should first say that when I worked on the campaign some of my easiest days on the job were the days when Donald Trump did events on antisemitism. Because he would inevitably say some truly offensive antisemitic stuff, which made it much easier to convince Jewish voters he was not on their side. So the fact that he is pursuing a policy in the name of fighting antisemitism, which is not really about antisemitism and is only going to make antisemitism worse, is not a surprise.

When I was on the campaign I had an opportunity to engage with Jewish students at a number of campuses. The things they have gone through over the past 18 months are terrible. In many instances legitimate protests against the war in Gaza evolved into harassment, Antisemitism, support for Hamas, and sometimes violence. Universities, especially in the spring of 2024, were overwhelmed by the situation and did not do enough to protect Jewish students. It was a clear failure.

In response the Federal Government worked with Universities and provided them with resources and guidance for how to deal with the situation. The Department of Education through its Office of Civil Rights opened Title VI investigations to hold universities accountable for antisemitic incidents and worked with them to take steps to address the problem. There are still problems on various campuses - and Columbia and Barnard had a notable failure recently. But this year the situation has been much better and was continuing to improve.

Enter the Trump Administration. First they take $400 million away from Columbia. This is only going to harm Jewish students at Columbia by taking away resources and it also has the potential to make them scapegoats and targets. It will also incentivize other universities to overcorrect, to the point of chilling free speech for fear of losing federal funding, which of course is what the Trump Administration wants.

Second, and perhaps most disturbing is the detention of Mahmoud Khalil - a Green Card holder and Legal Permanent Resident married to an American. Khalil was one of the leaders of the encampment movement at Columbia, and I strongly disagree with some of his views and tactics. But detaining him with no due process in violation of his constitutional right to free speech is not the answer. If he committed a felony, he should be charged and prosecuted and if convicted deported. But what is quite obvious from the Administration’s statements is that they aren’t focused on any crimes. They are focused on his speech. This NPR interview today with the new DHS Deputy Secretary is particularly galling. I highly recommend listening or reading it in its entirety. His basic argument is “He is a terrorist and therefore we are deporting him.” When asked what evidence the government has that Khalil is a terrorist the answer is “you saw it on TV.” We have all seen where this kind of authoritarian behavior goes, and it is vital to speak up now.

Finally, the Trump Administration also pursued massive cuts to the Department of Education this week, including dramatically cutting down the number of investigators who work on Title VI complaints when student rights are violated. This office has been an essential government enforcement tool since October 7th to investigate instances of antisemitism on campus and hold universities accountable. With a diminished capacity a key tool in fighting campus antisemitism is being pared back.

And of course, as all of this goes on, the Administration continues to platform antisemites in their own ranks. My guess is that the Trump would be thrilled if all of this set off a waive of new protests at universities, which could once again spill into antisemitic behavior making Jews less safe while giving the President the excuse to escalate his attack on liberal academia.

The bottom line is that the past few days have been deeply damaging to higher education and free speech in this country, and the fact that these actions are being taken under the supposed guise of protecting Jews, only serve to endanger the American Jewish community.