US President Donald Trump should be applauded for his efforts that will hopefully see the 20 living hostages return home from Gaza this week, after two years of unspeakable conditions Hamas foisted upon them.
Like former US president Joe Biden before him, who flew to Israel in the immediate Aftermath of October 7, Trump embraced the nation in trauma. But obviously, Trump was able to do much more than that, masterminding the ceasefire and the expected return of the hostages.
His frequent meetings with hostage families and released hostages and his frequent referral to "our hostages" reinforced that, despite his narcissistic tendencies, he did show empathy to their plight.
Whatever his motivation - a Nobel Peace Prize, a place in history, or just a sincere desire to make peace - his focus on making a deal in Gaza and his ability to bring in partners across the Arab and Muslim world is an achievement Israel should be grateful for.
But when the hostages, God willing, do come home, there is no reason for Trump to be present.
Despite the invitation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump's expected Egypt visit to personally push for the continued implementation of his 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, it would be prudent of the president to remain in Washington and watch the fruits of his accomplishments on TV
Trump tends to make everything about himself. And a lightning trip to Israel, with an address to the Knesset, will undoubtedly shift the focus of the long-hoped-for day of freedom from the hostages to the president.
Making the hostage release about Trump
Israel's October 7 trauma is an internal family affair, and the return of the hostages is a national event that is vital to the beginning of a healing process that could take years, not just for the returnees but for the whole nation.
The hoopla of the president's visit will diminish the attention that needs to be centered on the 20 individuals, their families who have struggled so hard for their freedom, and all of the soldiers who fought valiantly in Gaza, hundreds of whom lost their lives. They are the real reason that the hostages will hopefully be coming home.
As Kalman Liebeskind eloquently wrote over the weekend in our sister publication Maariv, the next days are about the nation and what it's gone through collectively and individually.
“To the soldiers who left behind a wife and children at home, a livelihood and a routine, and charged into the fire simply because the country called. To the reservists who were called time and again and reported to duty without asking questions, simply because it had to be done...
"To the many wounded who returned from the battlefield with lost limbs and shattered minds—for whom the war will not end even when the rest of us move on to the next hot story in the news. To the bereaved families from the city and the village, from the settlement and kibbutz, religious and secular, supporters of reform and its opponents.
"To the bereaved families from the city and the village, from the settlement and kibbutz, religious and secular, supporters of reform and its opponents."
As much as a supporter of Israel from abroad - even the president of the United States, who much more than a supporter has championed the cause of the Jewish state - can identify with our trauma and complex feelings currently being felt, they can't be part of what Israelis feel right now.
If and when the hostages are released, the country needs to close ranks, collectively embrace them and each other, and focus on the huge swaths of the population that Lieberman wrote about - not be busy laying out a red carpet for the US president.
If the remainder of Trump's ambitious 20 point plan miraculously come to fruition, the ceasefire holds, a Hamas-less government in Gaza is formed, the terrorists are disarmed, and the people of Gaza can regain their lives, he should arrive for a well-deserved victory lap.
Until then, he should stay home and allow all of Israel to process the pain and the relief it will be experiencing in these historic moments within the family.