Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he complied with the president’s proposal to end Israel’s occupation of Gaza on Monday while standing next to Donald Trump.
However, a few hours later, Netanyahu reaffirmed that statement by saying that he had no intention of supporting a Palestinian state and that the Israeli military would remain in the majority of Gaza. He did this again speaking in Hebrew rather than English.
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Trump’s 20-point plan appears to be in line with many of Israel’s stated war objectives, including the return of Israeli prisoners, the dissolution of Hamas as a military and political force, and the establishment of a temporary international administration in Gaza that is unlikely to pose a threat to Israel.
Netanyahu, who has kept his government together largely because of his insistent support for the war, has political and personal costs in accepting any deal. Is he finally at peace with the Palestinian conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 66,000 people? Or will he discover a new strategy to aggravate the conflict?
Manoeuvre by Risky
Trump’s plan for Gaza allows Netanyahu to establish himself as a victorious war leader before the upcoming elections as well as any potential investigation into government misconduct that might have contributed to the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. It also fulfills the majority of Israel’s demands.
According to Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg, “Trump’s deal allows him to portray himself as the complete package.” He can say, “Look at me,” I fought the conflict, I said. Gaza was completely destroyed by me. I went further than anyone could have imagined. I’ve demonstrated my love for Israel and its security, but cooler heads should rule now. ’”
It’s not just facts, they say. It’s all about the narrative, Goldberg continued.
Netanyahu is concerned about that because any decision to end the war is a risky one. Despite being Israel’s longest-serving leader, Netanyahu faces fierce opposition in his own nation in relation to his own domestic policies, corruption allegations, and disagreements over his failure to reach a deal to release the prisoners in Gaza.
Therefore, he has relied on the backing of far-right cabinet members, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to keep the conflict in Gaza and even grow.
In addition, critics have suggested that Netanyahu may be attempting to prolong the conflict in order to avoid a potential prison sentence in his ongoing corruption trial or to prevent an official investigation into his administration’s failures before Hamas’s October 2023 attacks, inquiries that had previously resulted in the resignations of Israel’s chief of staff and the head of its domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet.
Former Israeli ambassador and consular general Alon Pinkas said, “These risks haven’t diminished.” Trump doesn’t like Joe Biden, according to the article. Netanyahu can’t rely on all of his Republican Party friends to try to deceive the president. That power is no longer present. Netanyahu is aware that Trump can make life very difficult for him if he wants to, and he is aware of that. ”
According to Pinkas, Netanyahu was given the order to travel to the US and declare his allegiance to the plan. Trump, in my opinion, would have predicted that Netanyahu would have been more than capable of revealing a completely different reality if this had been agreed in secret. He can’t do that, he claimed, by making this agreement known in public.
opposition to the far right
Nearly the entire conflict has been fueled by calls for negotiations to end the war and release the Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, and many polls have suggested that the majority of Israelis want to see the war end. Opposition MPs have offered to support Netanyahu on a regular basis within the Knesset, or parliament, thereby making it politically feasible and popular to accept US terms.
However, Netanyahu has instead chosen to throw in his lot with the far right, which refuses to support the war’s end and demands that Israel formally annex Gaza and negotiate settlement with Jewish Israelis while putting Palestinians to the test.
According to Spotrich, the Trump plan is a “resounding diplomatic failure, a closing of the eyes, turning our backs on all the lessons of October 7,” and it will also, in my opinion, result in tears.
Ben-Gvir is expected to oppose the agreement, despite the fact that his anger has so far been focused on Netanyahu’s alleged apology to Qatar, which he reportedly made under US pressure, for Israel’s obscene attack on Hamas’ negotiating team in Doha in September.
The proposed plan is disappointing but not unexpected for the far-right settler movement. Ben-Gvir sees it as a blip in a populist agenda that seeks to stoke division and make Palestinian lives harder.
There you go, Goldberg warned, “Smotrich and the settlers will be disappointed.” They all believed that this would be the final God-given conflict that would result in their victory. They are now realizing that this isn’t the same old pantomime as Netanyahu. Ben-Gvir will likely take into account his options. He’ll likely make up his mind that it won’t take place. He won’t ever support it in public, but he won’t be in a rush to resign from the cabinet.
However, the cabinet is not the only subject. Those who call themselves ‘liberals’ rallying round to back what they will claim is a ‘peace deal’ are bound to back this. However, it’s not really clear what a “peace deal” means in the context of a genocide. ”
Adding to the complexity of the image
Analysts claim that Netanyahu is trapped by circumstance and focused on his only possible existence, despite the possibility that he may attempt to become Israel’s savior.
Pinkas predicted that he would use a soft stance to try and kill it. He will say that we are carefully studying it, that there are some minor security issues to be resolved, and that there are some things to worry about. He will also increase the number of Israelis killed in Gaza and increase his rhetoric against Iran. In a few weeks, Trump’s mind will have changed, his strategy will no longer be in effect, and he hopes his thoughts will have already waned. ”
Netanyahu’s horizon is defined by “political survival,” according to Chatham House’s Yossi Mekelberg. Netanyahu may call elections, claiming victory by referring to Hamas’s destruction, the return of hostages, and the presence of foreign troops in Gaza, according to Mekelberg. Hamas was declared to be dead. Most of the hostages were saved, at least by us. He might rebut his argument. “Look what we have done.” ”
Netanyahu might become isolated with rivals in Likud, the far right, the opposition, and ultra-Orthodox allies as soon as the war is over, according to Yet Mekelberg, who warned against this. Netanyahu is a master manipulator, so you can never bet against him. He is still increasingly confined to a corner. ”
Source: Aljazeera
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