In his statement to the press alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday, Netanyahu also felt the need – to preserve credibility – to explain why he did not follow through with the threat of widespread military action even though not all the hostages were released.
Just like Trump, Netanyahu did not want to leave Israel’s enemies with the impression that he was not backing up his threat, so he engaged in some creative rhetorical calisthenics alongside Rubio to dispel that perception.
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“I want to assure everyone now listening to us: President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us,”
“We have a common strategy, but we cannot always share the details of this strategy with the public – including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them.”
The threats Trump and Netanyahu issued and how they walked them back reflect the complex dynamics of diplomacy and an understanding of the negative impact of unfulfilled threats.
While the threats did achieve some aims, namely the release of the three hostages on Saturday, they fell short of the ambitious goal Trump spelled out: the release of all hostages.
Some argue that the fact all hell did not break loose at noon on Saturday shows there was little to Trump’s threat; others contend that without such threats, Hamas might never have agreed to even that release.
