This interview was recorded one day after the release of the first Israeli hostages, Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari - who had two fingers shot off by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
At this point, the conversation is not whether the 'deal' with Hamas was 'worth it' - 100+ hostages for over 1000 convicted terrorists, many serving life sentences for masterminding or carrying out mass murder - but whether Israel was pressured to make a deal, or will this exchange make EVERY SINGLE Israeli a potential kidnapping target for future Hamas terror operations.
While outgoing President Joe Biden claimed full credit for this initial release, other reports have surfaced that Bibi was pressured by Trump's negotiator to 'make a deal.' Because the Trump Administration is filled with pro-Israel hawks, we can only pray that this deal works out for Israel in the future.

During the interview, Assemblyman Hikind pointed to a recent survey conducted by the Harvard/Harris poll that 21% of Americans support Hamas.
This is the direct consequence of the failure of Jewish groups to properly educate and define what and who Hamas represents.
Since October 7, 2023, President Biden mainstreamed Hamas by pressuring Israel to commit to a 'two-state solution.' At the DNC convention, President Biden said that the Hamas protestors on college campuses and at the convention, 'had a point.' VP Harris told America that they shouldn't view the war in Gaza through a 'binary lens.' So-called 'humanitarian groups' like UNRWA, World's Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, and others who operate in Gaza are complicit in humanizing Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction.

Retired Israeli Ambassador, Yoram Ettinger, gave a 30+ minute riveting interview explaining the failures of previous US Administrations who adopted the 'Cosmopolitan' worldview that believes terrorists can be appeased by diplomacy and political niceties, ignoring the violent history of radical Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ayatollah's, Iran and all their proxies, and the PLO/PA.
Ambassador Ettinger was clear in his praise for President Trump who UNLIKE his predecessors DOES NOT possess a 'Cosmopolitan' worldview, but believes in a foreign policy that Israel, like the United States, should put their own interests first regardless of the United Nations and international agendas.
According to the Ambassador, Biden's Secretary of State Blinken was a miserable failure who saw Israel as more of a 'burden' than an important ally.

When asked about Biden's persistent calls for a '2-state solution' following October 7, 2023, Ambassador Ettinger gave a concise history of Palestinian terrorism that went back to their alliance with the Nazis during WW2, to their support from the Soviet Union, North Korea, Iran, terrorist groups in Africa and Asia, and reminded us that prior to Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Kuwait had been very supportive and welcoming of 400,000 Palestinians to live in their country. But even that did not stop the PLO from supporting Iraq's invasion, and that is why NO Arab country in the Middle East, in spite of their public declarations, are willing to fight for the creation of a Palestinian state. The Arab world has not forgotten who the Palestinians are, even though America's State Department and most Democrats have.

Ambassador Paul Hirschson, Israel's Consul General to Montreal, Quebec, and Canada's Atlantic Provinces, addressed the skyrocketing level of antisemitism, primarily in Montreal, where the Muslim/Arab population is roughly 10% of the population.
Synagogues, Jewish day schools, and Jewish-owned business have been repeatedly targeted and attacked with firebombs and gunfire, in Montreal, Toronto, and other Canadian provinces, since October 7, 2023.

Jewish students on college campuses, especially at Concordia and McGill University, have been frequently attacked, both physically and verbally by both students and faculty.

Ambassador Hirschson called out soon to be retired Prime Minister Trudeau, not only for his silence on the antisemitic attacks, but his complicity for falsely accusing Israel of 'Killing women, children, and babies,' halting arms shipments to Israel, and appeasing Hamas by calling for a 'ceasefire' in Gaza.
The Ambassador also called out Montreal's Mayor Valerie Plante for ignoring the fears and concerns for the safety of Jews in Montreal.
At the same time, Amb. Hirschson was effusive in his praise for the leadership in Quebec, which has been steadfast in their support for Israel.

During the interview, Ambassador Hirschson warned Canada and all Western nations, that they are naive if they think that they are 'safe from (radical) Islamism' just because they are targeting the Jews first. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.