Yesterday evening, the ongoing talks in Cairo to arrange a Palestinian-prisoners-for-Israeli-hostages deal appear to have broken down decisively. Yigal Carmon argues that to free Israelis from Hamas captivity, the U.S. should be using its leverage against Qatar, which is serving as an intermediary in negotiations, instead of pressuring Jerusalem to make concessions:

Qatar isn’t pressuring Hamas despite the fact that in reality, Qatar is the lifeline of Hamas—its hope, its future, its power to continue to fight and to hold the hostages. Qatar built Hamas from a small organization into a military and political power. It took pride in its training of “Hamas security officials.” . . . Without Qatar, Hamas is doomed. And why should Qatar pressure Hamas? The Biden administration is happy with it anyway.

President Biden needs a political victory for his reelection: one such victory would be to finish the war with a peace process that begins with a new hostage-release deal and allows for Biden’s plan to take off with the participation of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

Worse still, writes Carmon, the White House believes Qatar can help facilitate a postwar grand bargain involving Saudi-Israeli normalization and a path the Palestinian statehood:

The administration believes that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt will join in a process in which Qatar is the leader. This will never happen. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are Qatar’s sworn adversaries. . . . Qatar is the ticking bomb that will blow up any peace process, because it stands for Hamas. In fact, it is part of . . . the anti-U.S. bloc comprising Hamas, Hizballah, the Houthis, Iran, Russia, and China (even on the issue of Taiwan, Qatar sides with China).

On Tuesday, representatives of Hamas met with their counterparts from Fatah—the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) once led by Yasir Arafat that now governs parts of the West Bank—in Beijing to discuss possible reconciliation. While it is unlikely that these talks will yield any more progress than the many previous rounds, they constitute a significant step in China’s increasing attempts to involve itself in the Middle East on the side of Israel’s enemies.

By contrast, writes Tuvia Gering, Taiwan has been quick and consistent in its condemnations of Hamas and Iran and its expressions of sympathy with Israel:

Support from Taipei goes beyond words. Taiwan’s appointee in Tel Aviv and de-facto ambassador, Abby Lee, has been busy aiding hostage families, adopting the most affected kibbutzim in southern Israel, and volunteering with farmers. Taiwan recently pledged more than half a million dollars to Israel for critical initiatives, including medical and communications supplies for local municipalities. This follows earlier aid from Taiwan to an organization helping Israeli soldiers and families immediately after the October 7 attack.

The reasons why are not hard to fathom:

In many ways, Taiwan sees a reflection of itself in Israel—two vibrant democracies facing threats from hostile neighbors. Both nations wield substantial economic and technological prowess, and both heavily depend on U.S. military exports and diplomacy. Taipei also sees Israel as a “role model” for what Taiwan should aspire to be, citing its unwavering determination and capabilities to defend itself.

On a deeper level, Taiwanese leaders seem to view Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran as an extension of a greater struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Gering urges Israel to reciprocate these expressions of friendship and to take into account that “China has been going above and beyond to demonize the Jewish state in international forums.” Above all, he writes, Jerusalem should “take a firmer stance against China’s support for Hamas and Iran-backed terrorism, exposing the hypocrisy and repression that underpin its vision for a new global order.”