{"id":7243,"date":"2025-10-05T11:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T11:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=7243"},"modified":"2025-10-05T12:05:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T12:05:40","slug":"bibi-will-sabotage-trumps-gaza-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=7243","title":{"rendered":"Bibi Will Sabotage Trump\u2019s Gaza Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Donald Trump sounded jubilant on Monday when he announced a plan to end the war in Gaza. \u201cThis is a big, big day, a beautiful day, potentially one of the great days ever in civilization,\u201d Trump said before describing the proposal.<\/p>\n

The 20-point\u00a0peace plan<\/a>\u00a0calls for the release of hostages and prisoners, the disarmament of Hamas, the uninhibited delivery of aid into the Strip, the withdrawal of Israeli forces out of it, and the establishment of a technocratic and apolitical committee for governing Gaza, among other measures. Trump said the deal would resolve millennia-old problems and bring \u201ceternal peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m not just talking about Gaza,\u201d the president added. \u201cIt\u2019s called peace in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a big problem, and he was standing next to Trump as the president spoke. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was in the White House for the fourth time since Trump\u2019s inauguration in January\u2014no other world leader has come more than twice\u2014and it didn\u2019t take long for him to start throwing up roadblocks to peace. Indeed, Netanyahu had gotten to work undermining the deal before it was even announced.<\/p>\n

During the joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said that Arab and Muslim countries helped craft the deal, and he emphasized that only one relevant actor hasn\u2019t yet accepted it: Hamas. But as Barak Ravid of Axios\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday, \u201cThe deal now before Hamas is significantly different than the one the U.S. and a group of Arab and Muslim countries had previously agreed on, due to Netanyahu’s intervention.\u201d According to Ravid\u2019s sources, the \u201csignificant changes requested\u201d by Netanyahu had infuriated Arab officials involved in the peace process.<\/p>\n

The edits pertain to two sensitive matters\u2014the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas\u2014and were negotiated during a six-hour meeting attended by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, and Netanyahu himself.<\/p>\n

The updated proposal \u201cties Israel\u2019s withdrawal to the progress of disarming Hamas, and gives Israel a veto over the process,\u201d Ravid writes. Moreover, even if the phased withdrawal envisioned by the proposal is completed, \u201cIsraeli forces will still remain within a security perimeter inside Gaza \u2018until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.\u2019 That could mean indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many critics of Israel\u00a0interpreted<\/a>\u00a0comments that Netanyahu published on Monday as evidence that he has no intention of fully withdrawing forces. In a video statement recorded from Washington, the prime minister said, \u201cNow the whole world, including the Arab and Muslim world, is pressuring Hamas to accept the terms that we created together with Trump, to bring back all the hostages\u2014the living and the dead\u2014while the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] stays in the Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Netanyahu poured cold water on the idea of a Palestinian state, though the proposal calls for a \u201ccredible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.\u201d He assured the person behind the camera that Palestinian statehood is \u201cnot written in the agreement\u201d and that the Israeli team had made clear that \u201cwe would strongly oppose a Palestinian state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has used his leverage to sabotage the U.S.-led peace process many times before, often to the frustration of the White House. As Jonathan Lis of\u00a0Haaretz<\/em>, an Israeli newspaper,\u00a0reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Since the war began, Netanyahu has repeatedly taken steps to disrupt talks and stall progress: Israel introduced \u201cpoison pills\u201d \u2013 demands that could not be bridged and that blocked negotiations; and negotiation teams were given insufficient authority to compromise, slowing understandings with Hamas.<\/p>\n

In addition, under Netanyahu’s direction, Israel violated clauses in an agreement already approved by both sides that had enabled a cease-fire earlier this year, leading\u00a0to its collapse.<\/a>\u00a0Netanyahu could take similar steps again now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lis\u2019s report does provide one reason to think that Netanyahu could finally be ready for peace. Previously, Netanyahu had seen the continuation of the war as key to his political survival, but the calculus this time is less straightforward. \u201cIsrael is entering an election year,\u201d Lis writes. \u201cRunning a campaign while hostages remain in captivity is expected to weigh heavily on Netanyahu, as a deal for their release enjoys broad support, including among Likud voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu would appear stuck between the majority of Israeli voters and an extremist faction of Jewish supremacists upon which his governing coalition depends. These ultra-nationalist ministers have opposed any peace deal and have proven adept at sabotaging diplomacy, as the Minister of National Security Itamer Ben-Gvir candidly bragged this January.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past year, through our political power, we have succeeded in preventing this deal from being implemented, time and again,\u201d Ben-Gvir\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0on X. He called on other extremist ministers to oppose the deal then being considered: \u201cThe Prime Minister will refrain from signing the deal only if the force opposing it is strong enough to prevent him from doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

With another deal proposed this week, Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Settlements Orit Stock, and other Jewish supremacist ministers are again lobbying against peace. And they may have the leverage to get what they want yet again. \u201cIf the Israeli government approves the plan, it could lead to the withdrawal of Smotrich\u2019s Religious Zionism Party as well as Ben-Gvir\u2019s Jewish Power Party from the coalition,\u201d Israeli Arab politician Mtanes Shehadeh\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0TRT World<\/em>. \u201cThis may also trigger early elections, potentially as soon as the beginning of 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, will Netanyahu side with the Israeli voters or with the extremist ministers? Trump\u2019s push for peace, Lis writes, may give Netanyahu political cover to end the war and get the hostages released\u2014or it may not. \u201cIt now remains to be seen whether the pressure from the White House on Israel’s prime minister will outweigh the pressure already being applied by far-right Ministers Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Orit Strock.\u201d<\/p>\n

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