Kurt Mills

Netanyahu doesn't have to say it.

His surrogates in the media and in politics can say it.

And Lindsey Graham, the president's good friend, and of course, the

unchallenged America first senator, he himself was whipping against the deal as soon as it was signed.

You saw it in the president's West Wing address, Oval Office address.

He looks happy, and he highlighted a number of countries in the region, including Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, and on,

and he did not single out Israel.

So it appears to be a redux of really where we were before the summer, which is that the president was willing to work with everybody in the region, but Israel is not getting any special privileges.

And we've seen this show before.

Even before the president was sworn in, Wyckoff did a deal that created a ceasefire in the war, and Israel broke it in March.

And so this is another example of the president's instincts towards peace and not being a supplicant of a foreign power.

I don't think you're wrong on most of any of it.

I would say the key reality is if it holds, which is always the boring answer on this.

I spoke at some length with a longtime Israel-Palestinian negotiator late this week, and we're kind of going back and forth on it, and Tony Blair was all over this proposal, and so

We were both kind of like, I don't know if this is really going to work.

And then it sort of occurred to both of us that actually the Palestinians may call the Israelis bluff.

Why not accept it?

If this is actually a deal on offer, they can take it.

And it's a pathway for them to potentially keep their lives and their people stay in their land.

And sure enough, that's what happened.