Photo: AFP
The streets of Tenafly, New Jersey echoed with shouts of happiness Monday after word arrived that Edan Alexander, the last American-born hostage held by Hamas in the wake of the October 7th attack, was finally being released. His hometown supporters, who saw his reunion with his family unfold on a giant screen TV in Huyler Park, were overjoyed that the 21-year-old IDF staff sergeant was turned over to the Red Cross and no longer in the clutches of the terror group. While Israel’s work in eliminating the terror group continues, many Israeli supporters needed the moment to breathe a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, as heard on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program, there is one prevailing figure behind why Alexander was finally released.
ABC News correspondent Jordana Miller told host Larry Mendte the surprise was that President Trump was able to secure Alexander’s release, and that he did it with relative ease: “I’m not sure anyone quite believed that he would get out, because he was an Israeli soldier. He was in uniform on October 7th, and those are the last guys that Hamas will let out, and usually for a very heavy price. But President Trump, you know, he is always the disrupter, and here he decided to talk directly with Hamas and secure his release. The Israelis didn’t have to pay anything. They didn’t release any Palestinian prisoners, anybody with blood on their hands for his release.”
Joe Borelli is a former New York City Councilman and is currently the managing director of the Chartwell Strategy Group; he sees Alexander’s release as a step towards a much larger feather in President Trump’s hat: “That’s no small accomplishment. I actually think it portends well that President Trump is visiting the Middle East today in Saudi Arabia, and one of the biggest hurdles in any relationship there is going to be the unfolding and unraveling of the war in Gaza, but with the release of the final American hostage it seems like it’s that much closer to achieving a real cease-fire and a real peace, and this is going to be all President Trump’s doing.”
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