When Adam Boehler, one of the figures closest to the decision-making circles in U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration and a member of the small team that helped advance the Abraham Accords, returned to administration at the beginning of the year, he knew he was assuming a heavy responsibility.

His title, special envoy for hostage affairs, might suggest diplomacy and formal meetings, but in practice, it is one of the few positions in Washington where the title is not a metaphor, but a mission that can determine life or death.

Every word, every decision, every conversation can affect the fate of a person held in a prison or a dark basement somewhere in the world. The role took on an even more personal and complex meaning for him after Oct. 7, 2023, the day Israel and he, as an

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