Daily Herald opinion: For now …: A momentous peace is far from secure, but we can be grateful for a small step toward ending a war

For now, let’s be hopeful and thankful.

We have so few opportunities for pure joy in international politics, we can sometimes feel that we have to take whatever comfort we can, wherever we can find it.

But today, the quality of mercy indeed should not be strained, and it is impossible for people of good will to turn from the faces of friends and family rejoicing in the release of hostages that raises hope that President Donald Trump was correct when he declared Monday that “the war is over” — and maybe even that something even more historic and longlasting is beginning.

Trump’s words to an adoring audience in the Israeli Knesset also rose to the occasion.

“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” he declared. “ … After tremendous pain and death and hardship, now is the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down.”

And, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offered a welcome vow.

“Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace,” he said. “And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace.”

There is, of course, so much still to worry about.

Netanyahu, after all, has been a foremost opponent of a separate Palestinian state, a strongly hinted potential outcome of the 20-point peace program Trump announced last week.

Nor has Hamas agreed to disarm and get out of Palestinian leadership, as Trump’s peace plan requires.

There are countless dicey details to work out before the plan’s “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian” Board of Peace is “delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza,” much less extend the hope of this moment to a broader, sturdier climate of tolerance in cooperation throughout the Middle East.

So, it is surely naive and premature to schedule ticker tape parades across the globe.

But, we can at least take some deep breaths today. We can share in the smiles and tears of Israelis reacting to the release of 20 living countrymen after two long years of wait and wonder. We can offer sympathy and compassion for the less-fortunate friends and families of more than 200 other hostages who died in Hamas custody. We can acknowledge the relief of those friends and families of nearly 2,000 Palestinians released from Israeli custody, and solicit their support in seizing this delicate and rare chance for something promising.

Political wags no doubt — and who knows, maybe some leaders themselves — will crowd social media with arguments over the Nobel Peace Prize, and there is certainly room for debate on that score. But we cannot forget that the real prize, the only one that matters, is actual peace. About that, there is no debate, and that goal remains far from secure.

But for now, we have those tears of joy and relief, and world leaders’ promises of a better future ahead. Let’s revel in these while we can, and work toward realizing the hope they now can only suggest.