Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, host of the FDD Morning Brief, and formerly a terror finance analyst for the US Treasury. There’s a lot to talk about this week, especially the hostages, an upcoming ceasefire deal that brings up all kinds of feelings, and of course - Houthi dance moves. Follow Jonathan on X and don’t forget to check out the Morning Brief wherever you get your podcasts.

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If you’re feeling anxious about a potential hostage deal, that’s probably the right reaction. As I write this, it seems like a hostage deal will be signed in the coming hours, with the first phase being the gradual release of 33 hostages - whose condition is unclear. We the public (and probably others close to the negotiation table too) have no idea who is dead and who is alive, how long this will take (looks like weeks at the least), whether or not it will even happen, and of course what the outcome will be. It’s like diffusing a bomb over the course of several weeks, every wrong move can create an explosion. There are more unkowns than knowns, and i’ve even gone back to edit this last paragraph in the last few minutes based on new information. We will cry tears of happiness for every life that can be pulled out of that hellhole, and tears of heartbreak for every one left behind. Anyway, to quote my friend Lishay Lavi, whose husband and father of her 2 young daughters is a hostage and is not on the first phase list: “There is no euphoria or celebration here. We fight till the very last hostage is home.” I may write a longer post about this later.

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