Netanyahu tries to avoid coalition implosion over
Gaza ceasefire plan
Israeli prime minister juggles differing demands of
partners after Joe Biden announced latest peace proposal
Bethan
McKernan in Jerusalem
Sun 2 Jun
2024 17.14 BST
Benjamin
Netanyahu is once again trying to balance the demands of centrist and far-right
members of his government after a threat from his extremist allies to collapse
the coalition if Israel moves forward with a new ceasefire plan for Gaza
announced by the US president, Joe Biden.
In an
unexpected broadcast from the White House on Friday night, Biden urged Hamas to
accept what he said was a new proposal from Israel for a three-phrase plan
towards a permanent ceasefire in the nine-month war.
“Israel has
made their proposal. Hamas says they want a ceasefire. This deal is an
opportunity to prove whether they really mean it. Hamas needs to take the
deal,” he said.
But in
remarks on Saturday, Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, immediately
undermined Biden, reiterating that Israel seeks the complete destruction of the
Palestinian militant group before it will agree to ending the war. Any
deviation from that condition is a “non-starter”, he said.
Hamas
provisionally welcomed the president’s announcement, although it also said as
recently as Thursday that it still views a full withdrawal of Israeli troops as
a precondition to talks.
As
expected, Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners – the finance minister,
Bezalel Smotrich, and the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir –
immediately voiced opposition to the new truce plan when Shabbat ended on
Saturday night, threatening to resign if it goes ahead.
Such a deal
would be “foolhardy, constituting a victory for terrorism and a threat to
Israel’s national security,” Ben-Gvir, the head of the ultranationalist Jewish
Power party, said on X.
An aide to
the prime minister confirmed on Sunday that Israel had put the framework
forward, but described it as “flawed” and in need of more work.
However,
Netanyahu is also under increasing pressure from his military and intelligence
chiefs, as well as the centrist members of his war cabinet, to accept a
ceasefire and hostage release deal. Benny Gantz, a leading rival who joined
Netanyahu’s emergency unity government after 7 October, has said he will resign
if the prime minister does not commit to a “day after” plan for Gaza by 8 June.
Yair Lapid,
Israel’s opposition leader, also urged Netanyahu to agree to a hostage and
ceasefire deal, saying his centrist Yesh Atid party would support it even if
rightwing factions in the government rebelled – meaning a deal would be likely
to pass in parliament.
“The
government of Israel cannot ignore President Biden’s consequential speech.
There is a deal on the table and it should be made,” he said on Saturday.
Netanyahu,
long plagued by corruption charges he denies, sees staying in office as his
best chance of avoiding prosecution, as well as putting off investigations and
hearings into the security failures that contributed to Hamas’s 7 October
assault.
During
Saturday night’s now-weekly protest in Tel Aviv led by the families of hostages
held by Hamas, thousands of people called on the government to act on the new
proposal. A joint statement from ceasefire mediators the US, Egypt and Qatar
said the three countries “jointly call on both Hamas and Israel to finalise the
agreement … [to] bring immediate relief both to the longsuffering people of
Gaza as well as the longsuffering hostages and their families”.
Despite
Biden’s description of the peace deal as an Israeli proposal, the president’s
speech – his most pointed call to date for the war to end – appeared to be
designed to pressure the Israeli government into coming to the table, as well
as Hamas.
On Sunday,
the White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said in an
interview with ABC News: “We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the
proposal as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal – then Israel would
say yes.”
Israel’s
nine-month war against Hamas has decimated the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure and
displaced 85% of the population. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
In his
remarks on Friday, Biden anticipated rightwing opposition to a deal, saying:
“I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal despite whatever
pressure comes … Think of what will happen if this moment is lost.
“Lose this
moment, [and continue] an indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion
of total victory will only bog down Israel and Gaza and further Israel’s
isolation in the world.”
Gershon
Baskin, an Israeli peace activist and former negotiator with Hamas, told the
Associated Press: “It was a very good speech … It seems that Biden is trying to
force it on the Israeli government. He was clearly speaking directly to the
Israeli people.”
Friday’s
announcement is the third “last-ditch” ceasefire proposal endorsed by the US:
in February, a Ramadan ceasefire that Biden said was “very close” did not
materialise, and some progress towards a new truce last month was scuppered by
the launch of Israel’s invasion of Rafah, the last pocket of Gaza to be spared
ground fighting.
There is
only one substantial difference between the new plan and previous proposals:
the first phrase, which is a six-week ceasefire in which a limited number of
Israeli hostages would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,
would be indefinitely extendable while negotiators thrash out the next stage.
In phase
two, all remaining hostages would be released, Israel would completely withdraw
from Gaza, and both parties would commit to a lasting truce. The third phrase
is supposed to implement as-yet unspecified plans for Gaza’s future, including
administration and reconstruction.
About 1,200
people, mostly civilians, were killed in Hamas’s assault on 7 October, with a
further 250 taken hostage: about 100 were released in a week-long ceasefire in
November.
More than
36,000 people have been killed by Israel in the war in Gaza – according to the
Palestinian health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and
combatant deaths – which has decimated the strip’s infrastructure, displaced
85% of the population from their homes and created a dire humanitarian crisis.
Israel’s decision to invade Rafah last month has significantly disrupted aid
deliveries, leading relief organisations to again warn of widespread famine.
Biden’s
initial full-throated support for Israel’s right to defend itself after the 7
October attack has given way to censure of the suffering and death in Gaza
after widespread criticism at home over his position on the war. However, the
US remains the Jewish state’s most important ally and principal weapons
supplier.
Being seen
to broker an end to the conflict in Gaza would be a foreign policy boon for the
president, who is facing an uphill battle for re-election in November.
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