On Chicago’s Morning Answer, host Dan Proft spoke with Steven Bucci, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and former Army Special Forces officer, about the progress of the talks, the reliability of Hamas as a negotiating partner, and recent controversies surrounding the leadership of America’s military.
Senator Marco Rubio recently described the peace process as a two-phase effort: first, to secure the release of all hostages and pause fighting long enough to ensure their safety; and second, to create a governing authority in Gaza not controlled by Hamas or other terrorist groups. While that structure remains theoretical, Bucci emphasized that even the first phase is far from secure.
“Hamas is still fiddling around,” Bucci said. “They’re refusing to release all the hostages and playing for time, hoping Western sympathy—or pressure from American campuses—forces Israel to stop short of finishing the job.”
Bucci warned that Hamas’s tactics depend on exploiting public opinion abroad rather than making genuine progress toward peace. “They’re not negotiating in good faith,” he said. “They’re waiting for the West to rescue them again and make Israel pay the price.”
Asked whether President Trump’s team should continue pushing for a deal or give Israel the green light to finish off Hamas militarily, Bucci was direct: “Either Hamas releases every hostage, or it’s open season. Israel will try to minimize civilian casualties, but at that point, Hamas has missed its chance.”
Bucci also expressed skepticism about Qatar’s role as a mediator, pointing out that the Gulf state has long provided safe haven for Hamas leadership. “The Qataris have not shown themselves to be good partners,” he said. “When you’re sheltering Hamas leaders in palatial digs, you’re not exactly an honest broker.”
The discussion shifted from the Middle East to recent controversies in Washington following Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s fiery address to hundreds of generals and admirals at Quantico. Hegseth reportedly used the gathering to call out what he viewed as complacency and political distraction within the military—drawing sharp criticism from some retired officers and columnists like Peggy Noonan.
Bucci, however, defended Hegseth’s tone and message. “He’s the boss,” Bucci said. “If he wants to tell his generals to get back to basics and focus on warfighting instead of social experiments, that’s his job. Too many of these senior officers have forgotten they’re subordinates to civilian authority.”
He noted that the same generals who now complain about Hegseth’s leadership style had no problem dressing down subordinates for falling short of standards. “Now that the shoe’s on the other foot, they’re clutching their pearls,” Bucci said. “That’s not how the system works.”
Bucci added that the controversy reflects a broader problem of “military mandarins” who see themselves as above accountability. “That attitude is poison,” he said. “The military gives advice, but it answers to elected leaders. If our officers forget that, we’re in deep trouble.”
From Gaza to Quantico, Bucci’s message was consistent: leadership demands clarity, not compromise. Whether confronting terrorist organizations abroad or bureaucratic drift at home, he argued, the failure to enforce standards—moral, strategic, or professional—always carries a cost.
“Israel can’t negotiate its way out of terrorism,” Bucci concluded. “And America can’t manage its way out of weakness. In both cases, strength is the only language that works.”