Trump terrifies Hamas into giving up hostages, says Israel’s new ambassador-designate to US

Dr. Yechiel Leiter will soon fly to Washington D.C. to assume his new role as Israel’s ambassador to the United States. He will officially start on Jan. 24, 2025, amid dramatic developments in the war between Israel and Hamas, and just days after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

In his first interview to any U.S. or Israeli media outlet, Leiter acknowledged the importance of the Trump effect on the long-awaited hostage release deal. Speaking to ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg on the latest episode of TBN’s THE ROSENBERG REPORT, Leiter said the incoming administration fully understands the situation Israel is currently facing.

“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,” he said.

“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,” Leiter continued.

“We're negotiating with an organization that grabs people out of their bedrooms. Men, women and children, elderly and sickly, and holds them in tunnels underground. Let's appreciate that some of these tunnels are 40m, 50 yards underground... They can barely breathe. They are in dungeons. People can't stand up straight and most of them who are still there have been there for well over a year. It’s almost longer than the amount of time that the American hostages were held in the embassy in Tehran,” he said.

Leiter, an Israeli historian of philosophy who was born in the United States, drew a parallel between the current moment in Israel and the circumstances of 1981. He stressed that the Iranians at the time – Ayatollah Khomeini's regime – were afraid of Ronald Reagan entering the White House.

“It was that night of the inauguration that the Iranian government released the American hostages, just in anticipation of Reagan entering the White House. I think that there is anticipation now of President Trump entering the White House and the ramifications of holding people, human beings, in hell,” he said.

“This is a concept in the ten Commandments: ‘Not to steal’ includes not stealing people and holding them hostage,” he added.

Yechiel Leiter was tapped for the role by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November. He previously served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff at the Israeli Ministry of Finance. He is considered a long-time trusted friend and advisor of Netanyahu's, an ally within the Likud party and a leader in the Jewish settler movement.

“I have known Prime Minister Netanyahu for over 30 years, and I know his sensitivity towards human suffering,” he told Rosenberg. “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. That's why there has to be this proper balance that only a real leader can weigh and take, ultimately.”

Leiter described it as a very difficult “Solomonic decision” that Netanyahu is facing in “a measured and careful fashion."

“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,” he explained.

Leiter’s own family has paid this price, sending two sons into battle. His oldest son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter fell in combat in Gaza in November 2023. 

At the funeral that took place at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl military cemetery, Yechiel said, “[My son] gave his life so the barbarians wouldn’t get through the gates of our democracies, of our Judeo-Christian Western values."

Leiter told Rosenberg that his younger son, David, entered Gaza along with Moshe. As the ground was shaking and missiles were flying over their heads, David told his brother that he was afraid.

“And my oldest son, who was the commander, put his arm on his younger brother and said, ‘I'm afraid too, but let's get in there and save those hostages. Let's bring them home.”

“Many soldiers have lost their lives – my son among them – to bring these hostages home,” said the designated Israeli ambassador to Washington.

“One thing is clear. We have to end this entire process with a complete victory over this terrorist organization. The proxy of Iran that's intent on destroying the state of Israel and killing as many Jews as they can,” he concluded.

Watch Part One of Rosenberg’s interview with Yechiel Leiter on the TBN website.

Don’t miss Part Two of the interview next week.

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 10:00 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.