Haaretz newspaper said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost control over his lying, as happens to him when he is under pressure, especially since he is cornered due to the pressure of calling for the detainees’ deal and the United States.
The newspaper reported – in a report by Anshel Pfeiffer – that Netanyahu said in a meeting with relatives of detainees held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza that “contrary to what is said, there is no real proposal on the part of Hamas,” and this is not true, according to Pfeiffer.
The writer added, “I will say that as clearly as I can, and then he will ask, ‘Who said that there is a proposal from Hamas?’ He responds that Netanyahu is the same one who said less than 24 hours ago, “I completely reject the terms of surrender proposed by the monsters of Hamas.”
Thus – the writer points out – that there is not only a proposal, but rather that there are actual conditions that Netanyahu continued to detail, saying, “In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands an end to the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of the killers and rapists from the elite, and leaving Hamas in its place.”
Clear answer
Although Netanyahu can avoid lying to the families of detainees and to the public, what worries him most is that the Egyptian government is about to present an official proposal regarding a deal to release detainees in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a long-term ceasefire in Gaza, which is what his companions Benny Gantz and Gadi prefer. Eisenkot, and they will demand a clear answer from him and will not allow him to evade.
At the same time, Netanyahu is still trying to lie to US President Joe Biden, as he gave him the impression of being ready to consider certain forms of a demilitarized Palestinian state. He then resorted to social media and wrote, “I will not give up full Israeli security control over western Jordan, and this contradicts With the Palestinian state.
After the two pressure factors – the Americans and the detainees deal – became unbearable, it is possible that Netanyahu will agree to discuss the possibility of the Egyptian proposal and the American framework, because it is likely that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority will reject it, and therefore he may be playing for time in the meantime.
Concerned about the majority
But the biggest concern and what Netanyahu fears most is losing the majority in the Knesset, after it took him 4 years and 5 election campaigns – including 18 frustrating months out of office – for him to be able to secure it in November 2022. This majority of the parties that supported him in the last elections is all… Something is for him, and he will do anything to avoid wasting it.
Any indication from Netanyahu that he is willing to accept a ceasefire or agree to the Palestinian Authority taking control of Gaza after the war – as the writer says – will put 14 seats at risk, not because the leaders of the two extreme right-wing parties Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir are in a hurry to leave the ruling coalition, but Because they need to bolster their claims of being “true right-wingers” when the next election comes.
Without these two full-backs, Netanyahu will be at the mercy of Gantz and Eisenkot, whose National Unity Party has the seats needed to keep the government afloat if the far-right parties leave, but they will want to replace him as soon as possible.
The writer concluded that Netanyahu cannot curb events forever despite his avoidance of a serious discussion in the cabinet regarding the “next day” strategy in Gaza, but whatever he does, he is likely to lose part of his emergency coalition within weeks, and Smotrich and Ben Gvir will not be able to protect him from The decisions he has to make, and soon his lies will run out, according to the writer.
