Hostage deal could happen soon because of Trump ultimatum to Hamas, Israel’s incoming ambassador to US tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Optimism in Israel is rising quickly that a real hostage deal could be finalized in the coming days, possibly before Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office on Monday.

One senior Israeli diplomat says Trump’s ultimatum to Hamas – to release all the hostages by Jan. 20 – has injected real fear into the terror group’s leadership and could be making Hamas more likely to make a deal than at any other time since the last deal was struck in Nov. 2023.

Dr. Yechiel Leiter is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice to be Israel’s next ambassador to the United States.

Leiter leaves for Washington in the next few days to take up his post.

Today he met with me at the TBN studios in Jerusalem for an interview with ALL ISRAEL NEWS and THE ROSENBERG REPORT.

It was Leiter’s first interview with any American or Israeli news outlet.

“When President-elect Trump said, ‘there's going to be hell to pay’ if [Israel’s] hostages aren't released [immediately], I think it goes to the depth of understanding of what we're dealing with,” Leiter told me.

“The hostages are living in hell,” he said.

“To say that there's going to be ‘hell to pay’ means that there's recognition [by President Trump] that holding people hostage is simply not something that's acceptable.”

Leiter noted that in Jan. 1981, the regime of Iranian Supreme Leader Khomeini was “afraid” of Ronald Reagan entering the White House.

That’s why, he said, that at “the inauguration [of Reagan] the Iranian government released the American hostages just in anticipation of Reagan entering the White House.”

Likewise, he believes Hamas fears “President Trump entering the White House and the ramifications of holding people, human beings, in hell.”

Leiter believes Trump’s strong and muscular pro-Israel stance is going to change the Middle East dramatically and for the better.

My full interview with Leiter will air on THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN at 9 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday night (US time).

But given the rapidly developing sense in Jerusalem and Washington that a deal could be imminent, I didn’t want to wait to report on our conversation until then.

‘PROGRESS’ IN HOSTAGE TALKS IS REAL AND ‘MUCH BETTER’ THAN IN PREVIOUS TALKS

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is also signaling that progress is being made in the negotiations underway in Doha, Qatar.

“Progress was made – we see some progress in the negotiations,” Sa’ar told reporters on Monday.

“Israel wants a hostage deal,” he said. “Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal, and soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing.”

“It looks much better than previously,” Sa’ar added. “But I don’t want to say more than that, because I realize there are families that are sensitive to every word and every sentence.”

HAMAS IS ‘TERRIFIED’ BY WHAT TRUMP WILL DO, SAYS VANCE

In Washington, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance told Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream that, “We’re hopeful there’s gonna be a deal that’s struck towards the very end of Biden’s administration, maybe in the next day or two.”

“But regardless of when that deal is struck, it will be because people are terrified that there are going to be consequences for Hamas.”

The Trump administration plans on “enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership,” Vance said, as well as imposing “very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East.”

The following is a transcript of my interview with Dr. Yechiel Leiter, lightly edited for clarity.

ROSENBERG: It's a new year and Israel has a new ambassador to the United States.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: And a new administration.

ROSENBERG: Yes. Everything is changing. And you're Prime Minister Netanyahu's point man, at a moment where – as you and I record this – suddenly we've gone from feeling like there is almost no chance of a hostage deal to suddenly there's a lot of talk that a deal is about to be done. Now we want to temper that knowing that things can go in any direction. But what can you tell us about the Prime Minister's approach and his redlines on making a deal, and the impact of President-elect Trump's very forceful and repeated statements that “there will be hell to pay” if Hamas does not release all these hostages by Jan. 20?

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: I want to talk about the Prime Minister’s attitude towards negotiations with Hamas, and what our security concerns are in the context of those negotiations. But I'll start with the last thing you said, Joel, because I think it’s perhaps the most important.

When President-elect Trump said “there's going to be hell to pay” if those hostages aren't released, I think it goes to the depth of understanding of what we're dealing with. The hostages are living in hell, and to say that there's going to be hell to pay means that there's recognition that holding people hostage is simply not something that's acceptable.

ROSENBERG: It's almost been normalized.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: It's almost been normalized. We're negotiating with an organization that grabs people out of their bedrooms – men, women and children, elderly and the sickly – and holds them in tunnels underground. Let's appreciate this. Some of these tunnels are 40 to 50 meters, or yards, underground.

ROSENBERG: I've taken our audience into those tunnels.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: They can barely breathe. They’re dungeons. You can't stand up straight. Most of them who are still there have been there for over a year, well over a year and a quarter, almost – longer than the amount of time that the American hostages were held in the embassy in Tehran [in 1979 and 1980]. At the time, Khomeini's regime was afraid of Ronald Reagan entering the White House. And it was that night of the inauguration that the Iranian government released the American hostages just in anticipation of Reagan entering the White House. And I think that there's anticipation now of President Trump entering the White House and the ramifications of holding people, human beings in hell. I mean, this is a concept in the Ten Commandments that's discussed – not to steal includes not stealing people and holding them hostage.

ROSENBERG: What significance would you put on President Trump's repeated and very bold statements? Have they, in fact, changed the dynamic? Suddenly we're all talking about a possible hostage deal when it felt like months and months and months were going by with almost no talk about it at all.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: So here, it's very important for us to appreciate the ramifications of a deal with the Hamas terror organization and the concerns of the Prime Minister. He's really facing a Solomonic decision here, because any release of Hamas terrorists means that we're going to be facing terrorism once again. And we've had these exchanges in the past and every single time we've paid with human lives. And the Prime Minister has to weigh, you know, this really very difficult decision about releasing the hostages on the one hand and knowing that in the future…

ROSENBERG: Because Israel would be releasing terrorists prisoners in return for getting our hostages back.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: Exactly. So, you know, it also includes the issues of our border security. Are these terrorists going back into the very same area [the Gaza Strip] from which they already fired missiles onto our civilians, into the areas from which they already took the hostages?

ROSENBERG: There's another related issue. There's been so much criticism internationally, but even much domestically [here in Israel], that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not doing enough. That he doesn't seem to care. But one of the things that seems to get lost in that discussion is that the demand of Hamas has been that Israel surrender in Gaza. Right? And that we pull all our forces out and we don't fight there against Hamas but rather just surrender. Netanyahu, of course, wants to get every hostage out. But if we surrender after 15 months of fighting, where does that leave us? Isn't that one of the central tensions that the Prime Minister has faced?

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: I have known Prime Minister Netanyahu for over 30 years, and I know his sensitivity towards human suffering. And I know how much he cares about the hostages. But he cares about every Israeli, as well, and he cares about every soldier, as well. And that's why there has to be this proper balance that only a real leader can weigh and take ultimately. So, it's a very, very difficult decision. He's doing it in a measured and careful fashion. And he's already released over half the hostages. Some of them alive. Unfortunately, some of them are no longer alive. But I believe that…

ROSENBERG: Some rescues, too.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: And some rescues, of course, which were also very difficult decisions. You know, you're sending special ops into these tunnels to secure the release of these hostages. So, these were very difficult decisions. The Prime Minister is uniquely positioned to make these difficult decisions. And I think the vast majority of Israelis who have repeatedly expressed their support for Prime Minister Netanyahu will support a deal that he brings and know that it's the best deal that we can get under the circumstances.

ROSENBERG: Last points. First, I want to congratulate you on this appointment. Again, it’s a new year, a new administration, with a new ambassador. I first met you about 20 years ago. I'm very encouraged by you being the Prime Minister’s point man – and the Israeli people's point man – to our most important ally. Thank you.

You also are unique, and we're going to talk about it next week when we spend a whole show on who you are, what your story is, why did Netanyahu choose you and what unique qualifications you bring to this job, a critical job at a critical time. But one of those [unique factors] is the fact that you lost your oldest son fighting in Gaza as a Special Forces reserve officer in Gaza. How does the weight of that affect how you see – and how the Prime Minister sees – his decision making process?

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: Well, it's a very personal microcosm of what the entire Israeli civilian population is facing by sending their sons into the field of battle. My son, David, was a soldier in my oldest son’s – Moshe – company [in the IDF]. And, as they were entering Gaza, David went up to Moshe and said, “You  know, the missiles are flying over our heads. The ground is shaking. I'm afraid.” And my oldest son, who was the commander, put his arm on his younger brother and said, “Yeah, I'm afraid, too, but let's get in there and save those hostages. Let's bring them home.”

So, that's what everybody is committed to in Israel. We don't leave hostages in the hands of hardened terrorists. And we have risked our lives getting in there to save them, to bring them home. Many soldiers have lost their lives pursuing [this goal], and my son is among them, to bring these hostages home. And one thing is clear. We have to end this entire process with a complete victory over this terrorist organization, a proxy of Iran, that is intent on destroying the State of Israel and killing as many Jews as they can.

ROSENBERG: Ambassador-designate Yechiel Leiter, thank you so much for coming on THE ROSENBERG REPORT. I look forward to next week with the full interview. Thank you.

AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE YECHIEL LEITER: Joel, it's good to be with you.