1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,560
Speaker 1: Boston's Bulldozer operates seven days a week. The Kuner Report

2
00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,039
Speaker 1: weekend edition WRKO, the Voice of Boston.

3
00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:14,400
Speaker 2: President Trump has done it. We now have a ceasefire

4
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:23,360
Speaker 2: deal in Gaza. Good morning, Cooner contry. Okay, my friends,

5
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,840
Speaker 2: let me be the first one to say it. Give

6
00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,560
Speaker 2: Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, because my God, does he

7
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,640
Speaker 2: deserve it. If any man on this planet deserves it,

8
00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,800
Speaker 2: it is President Donald J. Trump. And so yesterday it

9
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,640
Speaker 2: was building. For a couple of days. There was a

10
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:48,680
Speaker 2: lot of momentum, but finally there was this historic breakthrough yesterday.

11
00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,720
Speaker 2: They are now dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv

12
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:59,680
Speaker 2: in Jerusalem in Gaza. Rarely do Palestinians and Israelis agree

13
00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:06,319
Speaker 2: on anything, but on this they agree. Peace is nigh.

14
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,839
Speaker 2: It is very close. They can smell it, they can

15
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,720
Speaker 2: sense it. An historic ceasefire deal was agreed to yesterday

16
00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:22,280
Speaker 2: between Israel and Hamas, and both sides agree. Again, they

17
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,400
Speaker 2: rarely agree on anything, but both sides agree that President Trump,

18
00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:34,600
Speaker 2: his determination, his vision, his driving ambition to make this happen,

19
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,920
Speaker 2: was the decisive force that decided to break through. So

20
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,600
Speaker 2: here is now the breaking news as was unfolding for

21
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,280
Speaker 2: the last twelve to about fourteen hours, negotiators Israeli and

22
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,440
Speaker 2: Hamas have been meeting in Egypt right near the Red Sea,

23
00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 2: and for about the last seventy two hours they have

24
00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,640
Speaker 2: been trying to hammer out the first phase of Trump's

25
00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:09,040
Speaker 2: twenty point plan to decisively and finally end the war

26
00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 2: in Gaza. Trump has put forth a very bold, ambitious

27
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 2: twenty point plan that both Israel, the Netanyahu government and

28
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,680
Speaker 2: Hamas have agreed to in principle. And now the key

29
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,960
Speaker 2: first step, which is what they agreed to yesterday, was

30
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,640
Speaker 2: to implement a ceasefire to stop the fighting. And what

31
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,760
Speaker 2: has really gotten people very excited the release of all

32
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:46,200
Speaker 2: of the Israeli hostages. There are about forty eight hostages

33
00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,840
Speaker 2: that Hamas still have. They believe about twenty eight of

34
00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:55,600
Speaker 2: them are dead, but they're still holding the bodies. The

35
00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,760
Speaker 2: family members would like to see the bodies return to

36
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,760
Speaker 2: them to give them a proper, decent, respectful burial. But

37
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 2: there is believe to be at least about twenty living

38
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,880
Speaker 2: Israeli hostages that family, parents, friends. Frankly, almost the whole

39
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 2: nation of Israel has been praying for day and night.

40
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,120
Speaker 2: According now to the News that came out yesterday. They

41
00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,920
Speaker 2: are expected to be released either this weekend or Trump

42
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,360
Speaker 2: now says most likely on Monday. But the twenty living

43
00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:41,840
Speaker 2: hostages will be coming home. The other twenty eight dead

44
00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,560
Speaker 2: hostages will all be returned or their remains will be returned.

45
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,960
Speaker 2: It will take a little bit longer because they have

46
00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,440
Speaker 2: them in different parts of Goza underneath their tunnels, but

47
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,960
Speaker 2: Hamas has pledged to get them all back within about

48
00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,680
Speaker 2: ten days. Now. As for the Palestinians, what do they

49
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,760
Speaker 2: get out of this? Netanyahu has made a very difficult decision,

50
00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:13,040
Speaker 2: and it is a massive concession to release countless Palestinian prisoners,

51
00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,680
Speaker 2: many of them in prison for life sentences for terrorist actions,

52
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:26,200
Speaker 2: terrorist murders of innocent Jewish civilians. So Israel had to

53
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,240
Speaker 2: give a lot to get these hostages back. But the

54
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,240
Speaker 2: fact of the matter is the deal has been pretty

55
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,440
Speaker 2: much inked. They want to formalize it today. Once it

56
00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:45,200
Speaker 2: is formalized today, President Trump is planning on visiting Israel

57
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,680
Speaker 2: this weekend. At a minimum, he wants to go to Gaza,

58
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,960
Speaker 2: meet with Palestinian leaders, talk to Palestinian civilians, meet with

59
00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,480
Speaker 2: Israeli leaders, and he also would like to go to

60
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 2: each and maybe try to push the process along even

61
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:09,240
Speaker 2: quicker to get a comprehensive piece deal done over the

62
00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:14,240
Speaker 2: next couple of days. It is an historic moment and

63
00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,760
Speaker 2: an historic deal. Listen now to President Trump. He called

64
00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,239
Speaker 2: in the Fox News Sean Hannity last night to say,

65
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:31,080
Speaker 2: the hostages are coming home. Roll cut one hundred, do

66
00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:32,000
Speaker 2: a mic.

67
00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,880
Speaker 3: The big thing is, hostages are going to be released.

68
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,960
Speaker 3: It's probably our time would be probably Monday. And you know,

69
00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:46,440
Speaker 3: it's They're terribly a terrible situation. They're deep, they're deep

70
00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,719
Speaker 3: in the earth, and they're being gotten. And a lot

71
00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,919
Speaker 3: of things are happening right now as we speak. So

72
00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,440
Speaker 3: much is happening to get the hostages freed, and we

73
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,840
Speaker 3: think they'll all be coming back on Monday.

74
00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,159
Speaker 2: Crying. I'm telling you, you can see scenes. It's actually

75
00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:08,400
Speaker 2: very moving. They are crying in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem,

76
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:14,680
Speaker 2: in towns and cities, people are gathering spontaneously. You would think,

77
00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:16,840
Speaker 2: I don't know, Israel won the World Cup in soccer

78
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,560
Speaker 2: or something. They are gathered. You know, people are just

79
00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,880
Speaker 2: pouring out onto the streets. They are dancing. People are

80
00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,720
Speaker 2: literally crying tears of joy. In Gaza, there are now

81
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:32,719
Speaker 2: celebrations as well, because a ceasefire now is at hand,

82
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,760
Speaker 2: and the possibility now of a final peace deal is

83
00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,040
Speaker 2: at hand. The war now may be finally coming to

84
00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:44,400
Speaker 2: an end, this long, brutal two year war. And so

85
00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:49,440
Speaker 2: you see them dancing, popping champagne corks. Anyway, we don't

86
00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,599
Speaker 2: want to get ahead of ourselves, but there's no question

87
00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,760
Speaker 2: now that this is a massive breakthrough. This is an

88
00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:02,960
Speaker 2: historic ceasefire accord, and this would be now the first

89
00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:08,120
Speaker 2: decisive step towards an overall permanent piece. Now, let me

90
00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,520
Speaker 2: just say a few things and then I would love

91
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,160
Speaker 2: to hear the input from all of you. Kuner country.

92
00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,760
Speaker 2: The phone six one seven two six six sixty eight

93
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,920
Speaker 2: sixty eight lines are open if you want to jump now.

94
00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,480
Speaker 2: I want to take as many calls on this issue

95
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:29,320
Speaker 2: and as early as I can. What happened is as follows.

96
00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:36,600
Speaker 2: President Trump put maximum pressure on both Israel and on

97
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:42,200
Speaker 2: Hamas to make a deal. And what he did was

98
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,240
Speaker 2: he got the Arab States and this is the key

99
00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,640
Speaker 2: countries that were involved. He got Saudi Arabia, he got

100
00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 2: cutter guitar, Turkey and Egypt to tell the Hamas leadership

101
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,280
Speaker 2: that there are days in power are over, that their

102
00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,160
Speaker 2: backing is now over, that they are going to have

103
00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,480
Speaker 2: to now concede to reality that Hamas has lost the war,

104
00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 2: that Israel has lost the war. Sorry, that Israel has

105
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,760
Speaker 2: won the war, and that Hamas has lost the war.

106
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,640
Speaker 2: Trump made it very clear to Netanyahu that Israel is

107
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,679
Speaker 2: becoming increasingly isolated on the world stage. It is slowly

108
00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:38,120
Speaker 2: becoming a pariah due to these very horrifying images that

109
00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,400
Speaker 2: the media has been manipulating, like CNN and the BBC

110
00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:47,840
Speaker 2: and others showing starving Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.

111
00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,720
Speaker 2: And so that it is now in Israel's interest to

112
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:59,800
Speaker 2: wind down this war and take the victory that they

113
00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:05,600
Speaker 2: have achieved and start to rebuild and reconstruct the Gaza Strip.

114
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,320
Speaker 2: And so what Trump is now laid out is as follows.

115
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,560
Speaker 2: It is a twenty point plan. At the heart of

116
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:22,199
Speaker 2: this plan is that eventually the Palestinians will get a state.

117
00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:27,000
Speaker 2: They will achieve an independent state, not overnight, this is

118
00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,040
Speaker 2: going to be done over several phases, over several years,

119
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,600
Speaker 2: but that the West Bank in Gaza will come together

120
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:42,640
Speaker 2: for an independent, free Palestinian state with billions of dollars

121
00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,719
Speaker 2: most of it funded by the Arab Muslim world. This

122
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,640
Speaker 2: is where the Saudis, Katar, the Gulf Sheikhs Turkey are

123
00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,160
Speaker 2: going to play an instrumental role because they're going to

124
00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,160
Speaker 2: be putting up billions and billions of dollars for the

125
00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:02,760
Speaker 2: full reconstruction and reb building of the Gaza Strip. There

126
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:08,120
Speaker 2: will be an interim Palestinian government consisting of sort of

127
00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:14,920
Speaker 2: technocrats who will oversee this transition slowly towards the rebuilding

128
00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:22,600
Speaker 2: of Gaza and towards an eventual independent Palestinian state. Above tech,

129
00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:28,040
Speaker 2: this interim Palestinian government is what's called a Board of Peace.

130
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,400
Speaker 2: President Trump will be the chair the chairman of this

131
00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,240
Speaker 2: Board of Peace along with he's going to have another

132
00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,400
Speaker 2: key member sitting with him, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

133
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:46,160
Speaker 2: And this Board of Peace is going to oversee this

134
00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:52,520
Speaker 2: Palestinian interim government. Now, the Arab States will be able

135
00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,959
Speaker 2: to send in peacekeepers and they will be the military

136
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:04,480
Speaker 2: guaranteurs of an independent pace Aalestine. However, Hamas must be

137
00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 2: totally dismantled. Hamas must be totally disarmed. They have to

138
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,080
Speaker 2: hand over all of their weapons and if they pledge

139
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,160
Speaker 2: to give up terrorism. They will be given a full

140
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,080
Speaker 2: amnesty and will not be assassinated or face retribution or

141
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,599
Speaker 2: justice for their crimes. That's, in essence, the deal.

142
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,680
Speaker 1: You're locked into. Boston's Bulldozer, The Kuner Report weekend edition,

143
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,160
Speaker 1: The Voice of Boston WRKO