When is a Deal Not a Deal?

Tolerated Non-compliance by Hamas
Renders Compulsory Compliance by Israel
Unilateral Disarmament

A Victory Coalition-Israel 365 Action Briefing
on the Prospects for Actual Peace

12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
October 23, 2025

When is a deal not a deal? That question looms large in Israel at a moment when American envoys are pressing their hosts to comply with an agreement to cease fire in Gaza.

That agreement, however, was supposed to require Hamas to stop hostilities, disarm and give up power. It isn’t happening. To the contrary, Hamas is attacking Israeli forces and trying to take some hostage. It is massacring perceived political opponents and seizing their weapons.

And Hamas leaders insist they have no intention of surrendering, let alone ending their efforts to destroy Israel. Rather, they declare the ceasefire is, in the tradition of Mohammed, but a temporary pause to regroup, rearm and then resume the fighting under more favorable circumstances.

Intense American pressure on Israel not to respond to Hamas violations and evident bad faith is a formula for more endless war, not peace for our time.

Thursday’s briefing jointly sponsored by the Victory Coalition and Israel 365 Action from 12-1:00 p.m. ET will address: the extent of Hamas’ refusal to fulfill the conditions on which the ceasefire was premised following its release of the live hostages and a fraction of the total number of dead ones; the practice of Sharia-supremacists to engage in partial adherence to agreements, blame “rogue” elements for violations, and pursue through a “hudna” the opportunity to prepare for renewed hostilities at a time of their choosing; the role being played by Qatar and Turkey and its ominous strategic implications for Israel; opposition to that role from Saudi Arabia and the UAE; U.S. pressure on Israel to ignore Hamas non-compliance; and the prospects for an enduring peace.

Co-Moderators:

Frank Gaffney,President, Institute for the American Future; Member, Victory Coalition; Briefing Co-sponsor; host, “Securing America”
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, Briefing Co-sponsor; Executive Director, Israel 365 Action; co-host, Shoulder-to-Shoulder Podcast; columnist, Jerusalem Post

Panelists:

Lieutenant Commander/ Dr. David Wurmser, PhD, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Former Middle East Advisor to the Vice President and the National Security Advisor; Director, Middle East Program, Center for Security Policy; naval intelligence veteran
Brigadier General Amir Avivi, Israel Defense Forces (Ret.), Founder and Chairman, Israel Defense and Security Forum
Major Eliott Chodoff, Israel Defense Force (Res.), combat veteran; strategic and military analyst; podcaster, “Conflict Uncovered”

Sponsors:

The Victory Coalition’s mission is to focus on the need for victory over those determined to impose Sharia, whether by violent jihad or the stealthy, subversive kind, on Americans here at home and on their friends and allies in the Middle East and beyond.

Israel365 Action is a fearless advocacy movement standing unapologetically for the Jewish people’s God-given right to the entire land of Israel. We will never surrender Judea & Samaria – the biblical heartland of the Jewish people – and we boldly confront Israel’s enemies wherever they operate.