Ron Agam

There are awards that glitter and awards that clarify. When President Isaac Herzog conferred Israel’s Presidential Medal of Honor on Mathias Döpfner on October 22, 2025, it clarified something essential: in an age of wobbling spines and performative neutrality, Mathias chose clarity and accepted the consequences that come with it. 

Yesterday in Jerusalem, inside the President's House, I witnessed one of the most moving ceremonies I can remember. President Isaac Herzog

President Trump deserves credit for doing what others could not, helping bring calm to Gaza and pushing for a broader peace in the Middle East. His instincts for deal-making, for cutting through diplomatic fog, have always been his greatest asset.

Let’s start with a joke that became history: the Swedes, in their famed generosity, handed over the right to distribute the Nobel Peace Prize to their oil-soaked neighbor, Norway — a country that turned moral arrogance into a national export.

Imagine if one prize could restart stalled peace talks, end a war, or at least open the door to meaningful dialogue. In a world consumed by the tragedies of Gaza and Ukraine, traditional diplomacy is paralyzed. 

The past week has made one thing clear: in the Middle East, the United States remains the only serious global power.

I’m not a diplomat. I’m a citizen who wants the sirens to stop and kids to sleep through the night. So here it is straight: Hamas in power is a dead end for Palestinians and for every Arab country trying to build a future.

The United Nations vote this week, co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, declaring support for a Palestinian state was predictable in outcome and devastating in symbolism. 

Western capitals are fond of stagecraft: a well-timed summit, a photograph with leaders, a ringing communiqué. But in the Middle East, applause does not translate into capacity. When statements replace structures, the result is spectacle — not security.

French President Emmanuel Macron likes to say he is a “friend” of Israel. But when we set aside the rhetoric and examine the last 18 months of his policy moves, a different picture emerges — one in which Paris has consistently undercut Israel’s strategic position, elevated Egypt’s leverage over Gaza, and nudged Europe’s Middle East posture in a direction that limits Israeli autonomy.

There is no tragedy more perverse than the lie that Hamas is a victim.

President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will recognize a Palestinian state this September is not diplomacy — it is a reward for terror.