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Binjamin Netanyahu bows to pressure from Trump

For 15 months the Israeli prime minister ignored pleas from hostage families and the military for peace. The US president-elect managed to force his hand

Binyamin Netanyahu had resisted ceasefire deals, but Donald Trump has been less forgiving MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Binyamin Netanyahu had resisted ceasefire deals, but Donald Trump has been less forgiving MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

For more than 15 months Binyamin Netanyahu stood firm. He refused to capitulate to Hamas, insisted on a “total victory” in Gaza, and ignored the ­increasingly desperate pleas from the families of hostages.

Yet even as his office was claiming there were sticking points still left to ­resolve last night, and before a formal vote was scheduled on the ceasefire in the Knesset on Thursday, it appeared certain that Israel’s prime minister had performed a remarkable about-face more than a year since stating that only military pressure on the rulers of Gaza would bring the hostages home.

The imminence of Donald Trump’s entry into the White House may have proved enough for Netanyahu to relent. While Trump has publicly threatened Hamas in the run-up to his second term, reports suggested that the president-elect’s influence on the negotiations was “the first time there has been real pressure on the Israeli side to ­accept a deal”. 

• How the Trump factor pushed Israel towards Lebanon ceasefire

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, attended the talks in Doha and had reportedly been aggressively pushing both sides to reach an agreement — even forcing Netanyahu to break protocol and meet him on the Sabbath.

Last night Trump said he was “thrilled” the surviving hostages would be returning home and claimed that the “epic ceasefire agreement” was only possible thanks to his election victory in November. Trump added that, once in office, his administration “will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven”.

Netanyahu, Israel’s great political survivor, has stood firm even in the face of endless protests and emotional meetings between hostage families and government officials. His government has faced heated accusations of torpedoing deals to stay in power from the media, the military, the public, the political opposition and within his long-fallen war cabinet.

 

Protestors in Tel Aviv demand a deal to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Families of hostages protested in Tel Aviv yesterday. They welcome the news of the deal
JACK GUEZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
 
 

The prime minister weathered resignation threats from hardline cabinet ministers over a deal that would see a cessation in fighting and release a thousand Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. On Tuesday Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security chief, went so far as to take responsibility for consistently scuppering the negotiations that have been taking place over the last year, brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

• Gaza ceasefire sows seeds of future conflict. So what happens now?

 

Netanyahu was able to walk the tightrope held by the opposing forces of internal political and external public pressure by keeping everything the same; paying lip service to the families and appeasing his cabinet by continuing the devastating war in Gaza. He eventually sacked his defence minister, largely over what Yoav Gallant saw as the abandonment of hostages in Gaza — suggesting the military was not on board with Netanyahu’s policy to prolong the war.

Initially, it appeared that Netanyahu wanted to wait for Trump to take office to secure Washington’s co-operation, including in the fight against Iran, Hamas’s main ally and benefactor. But as his inauguration date neared, it appeared that Trump had a new Middle East in mind, one that was not as aligned with Netan­yahu’s determination to crush Tehran, but rather saw Israel competing for Trump’s attention with Turkey and ­Saudi Arabia, both of which are set to become prominent players in the region.

The news of the deal was greeted with joy in Israel, with representatives of hostage families describing it as “hope and ­relief”. They have called for all the remaining captives to be freed. Gil Dickmann, a cousin of the murdered hostage Carmel Gat, said the deal did not “come in time” to save the 40-year-old yoga instructor, but he thanked the president-elect for his “Trump effect” that brought the deal. He added: “But this is only the beginning … leave no one behind.”

Author: Gabrielle Weiniger, Tel Aviv

Source: The Sunday Times

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