The deal is good news, of course, for the prisoners on both sides being released and for their families. For the rest of us, the good news is that despite the strong and unrelenting animosity in both directions between the two parties that struck the deal, a deal was nonetheless struck. And this was a complex agreement. It involves a phased release of the Palestinian prisoners and a possible side agreement between Israel and Egypt, which played a mediating role, entailing an Israeli apology for the recent killing of Egyptian security personnel following a cross-border Palestinian raid.

See what Netanyahu can do if he actually wants to? Daniel Levy is less sanguine, as are Jeffrey Goldberg and Alon Pinkas. I find it fascinating that Netanyahu can make astonishing concessions to Hamas that clearly weaken Israel's security, but not to the PA in a manner that would improve Israel's long-term security. The usual absolute prohibition against talking to terrorists is, it turns out, not-so-absolute. But the prohibition against stopping settlements in order to engage non-terrorists is unbreakable. It only makes sense if you realize that Netanyahu is a Greater Israel fanatic, not an anti-terror absolutist. Ilya Somin outright opposes the deal: