10/21/2026 Forum Plus - Brett McGurk: Brink—Inside the Race to Free the October 7 Hostages

Published October 21, 2026 at 4:00 PM MDT

The negotiations to free the hostages seized by Hamas on October 7, 2023, were among the most complex and consequential diplomatic efforts in recent history. Few Americans had a better vantage point than Brett McGurk, who served as President Biden's top Middle East adviser and played a central role in the negotiations. He is currently a CNN global affairs analyst and distinguished fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center an Atlantic Council.

In a conversation about his new book, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages, McGurk takes us behind the scenes of the often-frustrating negotiations involving Israel, Hamas, and Arab mediators. He describes the tensions between the Biden administration, which favored a phased ceasefire agreement to secure the hostages' release, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted that military pressure on Hamas was essential to achieving that goal while pursuing its destruction. McGurk also recounts the unusual cooperation between the outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Trump's negotiating team.

With Israelis heading to the polls on October 27, McGurk offers his assessment of Netanyahu's political future, the significance of the election for U.S.-Israeli relations, and whether a new Israeli government might open the door to renewed negotiations with the Palestinians.

Host: Jim Falk

Guest: Brett McGurk, author, Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages