What A Day - Netanyahu Bucks Trump's Board Of Peace

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Last month, Trump bragged that the Board of Peace had accomplished a monumental breakthrough: an agreement for the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza. However, this “agreement” didn’t really stand much of a chance because Hamas and the Israeli government were stuck in a classic standoff. And on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down the deal. So not only are we nowhere near a peace deal, we’re not even close to peace. To talk more about the failures of Trump and the Board of Peace, we spoke with Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace with a focus on U.S. foreign policy. He is a former State Department Middle East negotiator in both Republican and Democratic administrations.And in headlines, more states are gearing up for primary elections tomorrow, Trump scoffs at Iran’s demand for reparations, and the Patriot Games have kicked off in Ohio.Show Notes: Check out Aaron's work – tinyurl.com/24enrkeb Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail]

Yeah, I don't know if you're a rock and roll fan, but I'm an Eagles fan. And the iconic song, Hotel California, right? I mean, you can check out any time, but you can never leave. We're stuck in this region. We have allies. We have adversaries. We have interests. But we have to be very careful about how we deploy our power, our military power and

our diplomatic power. And we're not, that's the problem. We're not careful. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What a Day, the show that has learned that Defense Secretary slash little boy Pete Hegseth is the least popular cabinet member. According to CNN, Hegseth is 22 points underwater. In fact, not only is he the most unpopular cabinet member, he's even more unpopular than former cabinet members like ex-attorney General Pambandi and ex-Homeland Security Secretary

Christy Knoam. Pete Hegzeth, making Christy Knoem look popular. On today's show, we talk about President. Donald Trump's continued failures in Gaza with the Carnegie Institute's Aaron David Miller. Before we get into the Board of Peace that can't peace, here's what we're following today, Monday, July 10th.

Mr. President, in addition to this big announcement, you've also been posting about Iran today opposing their latest demands. You said this last round of talks was Iran's last chance before decapitation. So what now? You'll find out. Are you still, our massive escalation,

is that still on the table? Well, we have that certainly, that ability if we want to do that. Yeah, you'll find that. Trump's war in Iran may have begun with more than a dozen explanations, but most recently, the Trump administration has stuck to one message. We have to stop Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon, and that must be part of a settlement to end the war. But according to the Wall Street Journal, that must has been downgraded to a nice to have.

Think of the Iran war like an apartment. Trump has decided that actually it's fine if there's no washer dryer in unit, or a dishwasher, or windows. On Sunday, the journal reported that Trump has told AIDS that Iran is unlikely to advance its nuclear ambitions during his presidency after the U.S. bombed its main nuclear sites last year. And U.S. intelligence would warn American officials if Iran did otherwise. Instead, Trump is laser-focused on a new goal, reopening the Strait of Formuz, which was, of course, open before the war began. What will it take to get the strait reopened? According to Iranian state media, ending the war, paying reparations, for war damages and lifting all sanctions against the country.

So it's safe to say that the straight is probably staying closed. Move over, Cyclospora. There's a new outbreak in town. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating multi-state incidences of salmonella infections. The spread of the bacterial infection is linked to fresh jalapenos from Sinola, Mexico, and supplied by Coast citrus distributors. Taylor Fresh Foods, the parent company of Taylor Farms, is voluntarily recalling some products that include jalapenos

because of worries about possible contamination. Remember Taylor Farms? The company said it's no longer sourcing products from the farmer and recalled items including guacamole, pico de gallo, and taco dip. First they come for our lettuce, now it's our jalapinos. I beg of you, please leave my tomatoes alone. We're checking more states off our primary election,

election calendar. Voters are set to turn out for races in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, and Connecticut tomorrow. Some of the races are taking the pulse of the Democratic Party. Here's lowdown. In Wisconsin, voters will decide a high-profile clash between the Democratic establishment and progressive wings in a gubernatorial primary. State Representative Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist, has emerged as a top contender for the nomination. In neighboring Minnesota, voters are choosing between moderate U.S. Representative Angie Craig and progressive lieutenant-governor Peggy Flanagan in a Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Two veteran Democratic incumbents in Connecticut are facing strong challenges within the party to redefine the Democratic

brand ahead of the midterms by replacing Old Guard figures with younger and often more progressive alternatives. Are you sensing a theme here? And in Vermont, Democrats will try to do something they've been unable to do in five previous attempts. Nominate a good, gubernatorial candidate who can beat Republican governor, Phil Scott. A lot is going on. That's not to mention Alabama and South Carolina are holding special elections as well. In the fall, we will host the first ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state

and territory. I do not volunteer's tribute. President Trump previewed the Patriot Games last. year as part of the country's 200-50th birthday celebrations, and the Hunger Games jokes have not let up since. Anyway, the games finally kicked off in Ohio on Sunday. The Freedom 250 website notes that kids 14 to 17 years old will compete in a slew of activities, including a, quote, military-inspired boot camp circuit. They'll also take part in team sports like kickball, dodgeball, and tug-of-war. According to Freedom 250,000, a $250,000 scholarship prize pool will be split between a male and female winner. And guess what? White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said our fearless leader, Donald Trump, will be at the games Tuesday. No pressure, kids. May the odds be ever in your favor. And that's the news. Let's talk about Gaza. Last month, Trump bragged on true social that he, well, the Board of Peace, of which he is the chairman, had accomplished a monumental breakthrough. He wrote on July 30th, quote, today, the Board of Peace reached a historic agreement for the complete disarmament. of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting peace

and security. And yes, a lot of this post was in all caps. Now, I told you about this development, and I told you that the, quote, agreement had every chance of falling apart because Hamas and the Israeli government were stuck in a classic standoff. Hamas would only disarm if Israel would stop all attacks, withdraw from the territory, and increase the amount of aid allowed inside. But Israel would only withdraw after a full disarmament by Hamas. You can see the problem here. So it wasn't very surprising when on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu very publicly turned down the deal, saying in a meeting with government officials that he would only accept, quote, genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament. Israel, by the way, is still striking Gaza on a near daily basis.

So not only are we nowhere near a peace deal, we're not even close to peace. To talk more about the failures of Trump and the Board of Peace, I spoke to Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace with a focus on U.S. foreign policy. He is a former State Department Middle East negotiator in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Aaron, welcome to what today. Then it's great to be here with you. So the Board of Peace and Donald Trump thought they had reached a groundbreaking peace deal with Hamas back in July. They just needed Israel sign off. But this weekend, And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected the plan. Can you remind me what was in this deal?

Yeah, the 15-point plan that the president claimed was on the verge of historic breakthrough was part of a 20-point plan, which the president unveiled way back in October of 2025. And to his credit, I mean, phase one of that plan was implemented, freedom of the hostages and the end of the war, as the Israeli said, waged it in Gaza, in the way, of October 7th, even though more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire. And the Board of Peace under the actually quite talented Nicholas Medanov, who is the high representative for Gaza, was sort of a liaison with the parties. Hamas on one hand, the key Arab mediators, the Qatari, the Egyptians, the Turks, and of course the Israelis, came up with a 15-point plan

focused on two central issues, demilitarization of Hamas, decommissioning of weapons, including the tunnel structure, which is estimated to be what a third of the length of the New York subway system, small arms, heavy weapons, in exchange for Israeli withdrawal. Hamas accepted the plan, I think with conditions that the Israelis would agree to withdrawal. The prime minister took nine days to respond. I think that probably was a function of the fact that he was looking for a way to tread the very fine line between his political right-wing elections in less than 79 days in a very consequential election and keeping Donald Trump on his side on the other. He clearly managed to succeed since the president has said nothing. And at least two senior officials in Whitehouse

said that they understand Netanyahu's political constraints. And as long as he plays by the rules, that is to say, no unilateral Israeli escalation in Gaza, this is probably not going to create a crisis in U.S. Israeli relationship. You mentioned this deal required demilitarization of Hamas and Israeli withdrawal. But it seemed pretty clear that Hamas would not agree to disarm, even just heavy armaments, unless Israel withdrew. And Israel would not agree to withdraw unless Hamas disarmed. And to that point, Netanyahu said on Sunday that they would not consider withdrawal until Hamas demilitarized completely, all arms. So was this plan ever going to work?

In my judgment, unless you had leaders that were actually invested and cared about it and were prepared to make the tough decisions to make it work, the answer is no. Look, the gold standard for deemic commissioning occurred in Northern Ireland and Britain in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It took seven years for the Protestant paramilitaries and the IRA to agree to decommission. That was done on international auspices, very talented Canadian general. They pursued a verification process, which was not designed to humiliate either of the armed groups. And before any decommissioning began, there was a political agreement that offered the political analogs of the Protestant paramilitaries, the unionists and the nationalists in the IRA, a role in governance. None of these things exist in Gaza today. So short answer to you to question,

in my judgment, this plan is tethered in current circumstances to a galaxy far, far away, not to the realities back here on planet Earth. If you also think Trump makes a lot more sense in a most-sizedly wretched hive of scum and villainy, setting, stick around. We'll get back to my conversation with Aaron David Miller in a moment. In the meantime, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. Morningcomatrice Mads. What a Day is brought to you by dose. The most underrated organ in your body? Your liver. It's doing more than 500 functions every single day, filtering unwanted elements, supporting digestion,

helping with energy, but we never think about it until something's wrong. What if we actually supported it before problems started. Dose for your liver is a clinically backed liver health supplement. This isn't just another capsule or powder. Dose is a liquid supplement. It's taken in a daily two-ounce shot and it tastes like fresh squeezed orange juice. Dose cleanses the liver of unwanted stressors that's slowing your liver down. It promotes daily liver function so your liver can do its job. With zero sugar, zero junk, zero calories. Ready to give your liver the support it deserves, head to dosedaily.co-slash-WAD or enter WOD to get 35% off your first subscription. Your body does so much for you. Let's do something for it. That's D-O-S-E-D-A-I-L-Y.

dot-C-O-S-W-Wad for 35% off your first month subscription. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp has an average live therapy session rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 1.7 million client's session reviews. The feedback from people who have actually used a service speaks for itself. More than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally. The consistent feedback from real users makes it easy to see why so many people continue to choose BetterHelp. BetterHelp therapists have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience. They also hold all required education, training, and certifications across the range of mental health specialties. Better help makes it easy

to get started. Answer a few questions, get matched with a therapist, based on your needs and switch therapists at any time if it's not the right fit. See the reviews, see what stands out, and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit BetterHelp.com slash wad. That's BetterH-E-L-P.com slash Wad. Let's get back to my conversation with Aaron David Miller. Let me back up for a second and talk about the Board of Peace. What powers does it have and what powers does it not have to get Gaza towards some form of stability somehow?

The power of implementation does not lie in the board. It lies in the willingness and capacity of Hamas, on one hand, the current government of Israel on the other, the mediators, and most important, the president of the United States. It was Donald Trump, who basically said to Benjamin Netanyahu in October of 2025, when the, Netanyahu was vacillating about whether to accept the ceasefire. If you don't agree to this, we will walk away from you. So Donald Trump has said things and done things in and around Israel and this prime minister that none of his predecessors have ever done. But I think it's almost inconceivable to me, given that Hamas is the other interlock here, that Donald Trump would squeeze the Israelis unless Hamas made some real moves on withdrawal.

And as you said, it's all tied up in this chicken and egg catch-22, a link to withdrawal as opposed to decommissioning. So in the end, the Board of Peace is an artificial construct. I think it's funded through pledges, most of which have not been received. It is under the control of the president, who is chairman of the board. It is ensconced in a UN Security Council resolution, which gives it some relative. But let's be clear. It's only as weak and strong as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump want to be in terms of making it work or not making it work. My understanding was that the Board of Peace was intended to act as the entity overseeing the Gaza peace process, the rebuilding the stabilization of that territory. But you already said 1100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and Israeli military action since the ceasefire.

So can we even say that that peace process has begun because Israel is still striking the territory? The answer is no. Remember, we're talking even by Israeli stats now, including the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health. We're talking about 70,000 Palestinians killed. And even if 20 to 25,000 are Hamas fighters, you're dealing with an exponential rise of civilian deaths, right? And it's a cautionary tale, which, you know, in this region, it's more often of a case of where American ideas of warmaking and peacemaking go to die. I mean, I worked for administration Jimmy Carter to Bush 43. It's rare that the United States achieves a success in this region, in large part because for Washington, the states' stakes are never really existential. for these smaller non-state actors, Hamas, is Balah, Israel, Iran, it's not a question of political legacy or re-election only. You know, Anwar Sadat paid for his life with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

Rabin did the same for the Oslo process. At the last Camp David summit in July 2000, I heard Arafat say at least four times that you will not get a chance to walk behind my coffin. which is customary in Arab funerals. So I'm not sure we understand fully that the Middle East is littered literally with the remains of great powers who believe they can impose their will on small and ones. You know, I don't know if you're a rock and roll fan, but I'm an Eagles fan. And the iconic song, Hotel California, right?

I mean, you can check out any time, but you can never leave. We're stuck in this region. We have allies, we have adversaries, we have interests. But we have to be very careful about how we deploy our power, our military power and a diplomatic power. And we're not, that's the problem. We're not careful. Yeah.

And I think to that point, it's interesting because you can tell that Trump is getting bored with this. He's bored with having to be engaged in this. He's bored with having to think about it. But for Israel and for Hamas, this is quite literally life or death. And for Netanyahu, it is a matter, as you've been mentioning, of his political future. So he's facing an election in October. You mentioned that there's a good chance that if he loses, he could go to jail or sign a plea agreement.

That means he's out of politics. If Netanyahu is voted out of power in October, where does that leave the U.S. and its war with Iran and its involvement in Gaza? Well, in my judgment, and again, I work with Netanyahu in his first incarnation as prime minister. He's done more to undermine the U.S. Israeli relationship, Israeli internal politics, suck the civility out of them. He's got ministers who are racist, Jewish supremacists, who are committed to annexing the West Bank, now in everything, including in name. And I think that having governed Israel 15 out of the last 17 years, the longest governing prime minister in the history of the state of Israel, it's time for Netanyahu to go. Now, what or who could succeed him is another matter.

But the first order of business, they tell me, if you're in a whole, is to stop digging. So I would argue that the next government, if it is a, center-right government with politicians who are not on trial, who are not strenuously ideological, who don't have to cater to the interests of Itamar Ben-Gavir and Bizzlau Smojtrich, these two ministers that I refer to, you could get an Israeli government that is interested in sort of writing the ship. But let's be clear, it's going to take a long time and big leaders, because that's in the end is what it's all about. It's about Sadat and Begging. It's about Rabin and even Arfot in his first incarnation.

It's about Mandela and a clerk. Leaders who are masters of their politics, not prisoners of their ideologies, who understand the past, but are mindful of the fact that if anything is going to be done, somehow the trauma, the historical wounding, the injustices that Israelis and Palestinians have inflicted upon one of their need to be somehow corrected. It's going to take leaders' love. like that and a leader in Washington who understands that dealing with the Israelis, you have to apply ample amounts of honey to be sure. But at times, you're going to have to apply vinegar.

And that's not entirely understood today, even though you have an American president, who, as I mentioned, has done and said things that none of his predecessors have even come close to saying, you cannot deploy your son-in-law and your best friend, Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff, to negotiate the three of the more intractable conflicts in the international system, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and the U.S. and Iran. And they failed at each of these. Those would be heavy lifts even for a talented negotiator, like Henry Kissinger, my former boss, James Baker. But as you suggest it, Donald Trump is easily distracted.

And he, well, there are any number of other reasons why it seems to me he's not uniquely suited to playing the role of Middle East peacemaker. Aaron, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. Jen, thanks so much. It was great being here with you. That was my conversation with Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. before we go. This November, we have a chance to stop Donald Trump's agenda and its tracks by winning back a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. If we win, it means no more bills gutting health care.

It means actual investigations into corruption, and it puts us on a path to regaining power in 2008. Votesave America has identified 12 of the most beatable Republicans up for re-election in the House, aka the crooked dozen. Sign up at Votesaveamerica.com to learn more and get practical actions you can take. between now and election day. We all have to step up if we're going to flip the house and win other races up and down the ballot. Visit Votes ofamerica.com now to get involved. This message has been paid for by Votes of America. Votes ofamerica.com. It is not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee. That's all for today. If you like this show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review. Get pumped to watch Sean Duffy's Road Trip show.

Someday. Maybe. And tell your friends to listen. And if you're in underrating and not just about how the Transportation Secretary's road trip reality show, which he says is not a reality show, we're supposed to premiere in June, but will now premiere in, quote, maybe two weeks because of, quote, ethics rules. Like me, Whataday is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and you know this show isn't happening because what Trump administration official gets tied up by ethics rules. What a day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily 4, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdock and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. The What a Day podcast you know and love is shaking things up.

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