Netanyahu Rejects Trump Peace Plan on Gaza, Calls for Hamas Disarmament First
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Donald Trump’s newest offer to broker peace in Gaza yesterday. He called for Hamas to disarm before any Israeli withdrawal.
“Abandonment of the 15-point document is not an option for Israel,” Netanyahu reportedly said during the meeting, according to Israeli news outlet Yisrael Hayom. “I wanted to put this issue to rest now because it was unclear to whom I was not clear enough.”
What Trump Proposed
Trump’s Board of Peace released the proposal last month (at the end of July) which would have seen a phased transition of power in the Gaza strip. Hamas would have had to give up both its heavy and light weaponry, and in return Israel would have begun its withdrawal as an international force took over administering the region. The President claimed the agreement was a breakthrough, as Israel and Hamas both seemed to accept the terms of the deal.
What Netanyahu is arguing for is simply that Israel should not have withdrawn any forces from Gaza unless Hamas had first disarmed entirely – a concession the Board of Peace had already accepted when it agreed to leave Israel’s forces in a standstill until Hamas laid down its arms.
Meanwhile, Hamas has argued that Israel must cease its attacks on Gaza before it considers any disarming.
Domestic Pressures on Netanyahu
It’s not surprising that Netanyahu would push back so strenuously against Trump’s proposal, because, at home, Netanyahu’s coalition is weak and his election on October 27 is approaching. The Likud party is expected to lose its majority in the Knesset, and Netanyahu’s more right-wing allies want him to refuse any deal with Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pushing him to make concessions to Hamas in order to end the fighting. According to the latest Gallup poll, Netanyahu’s coalition is expected to lose its majority.
Despite his continuing resistance to the U.S. policy, it seems that Netanyahu has eased up a bit on his bombardment of Gaza. Following in the wake of ministerial talks this week with the U.S.-appointed special envoy to Gaza, the Israeli Defense Ministry reasoned that it had lightened up its attacks to only those areas presenting immediate threats, rather than the constant and near-daily shelling of the region.
In addition to opposing the Trump proposal, Netanyahu also continued to oppose any territorial concessions to the Palestinians. “As prime minister,” he said, “I shall oppose any concessions to the Palestinians in territory as long as I remain in office.”
Now What?
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, since the spat with Netanyahu has the potential to do even more damage to relations with the U.S. “Netanyahu argued that Israel needed to finish off Hamas before it withdrew troops, but the U.S. has opposed that position,” one analyst noted. In addition, several analysts suggested that President Trump might actually choose to oppose Netanyahu openly and hurt his chances for re-election by cutting off aid to the Israeli government, causing rifts not only with Netanyahu but with many other Republicans, who were generally more supportive of Israel than any other political party.
So far, it seems that neither Netanyahu nor the U.S. has given an inch. Netanyahu claimed today that negotiations with the U.S. continued despite his strongly worded criticism of the Trump proposal, and he said that although there were aspects of it that Israel was prepared to accept, there were also aspects it was not. The White House has yet to officially respond to Netanyahu’s complaints.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to enforce a near-total siege on Gaza, with Israel keeping control of some 70 percent of the Strip, Palestinian officials and humanitarian groups say.
