President Trump and his envoy refused to let Netanyahu’s games and excuses delay the signing of a cease-fire deal that would free the hostages and end the Gaza war. But Netanyahu is still scheming to sink the deal – and with it, the hostages and Trump’s wider Middle East agenda
Amir Tibon for Haaretz
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a cease-fire and hostage deal, on behalf of the State of Israel, that includes three phases. If implemented in full, this agreement will lead to the release of all the hostages held by Hamas since October 7 – among them two neighbors and close personal friends of mine – and an end to the war in Gaza.
That’s what is spelled out, loud and clear, from its pages.
This agreement was months in the making, with the persistent work of the Biden administration. But the credit for its eventual signing belongs more than anyone else to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump and his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Trump’s involvement in the negotiations pulled the talks out of a months-long stalemate, and Witkoff’s last-minute trip to Jerusalem made it clear to Netanyahu that the deal had to be signed with no more games, excuses or delays.
But the same Netanyahu who eventually signed the agreement has been telling his domestic political allies that he has no intention of honoring and implementing it.
After one of the extremist, messianic parties in his governing coalition quit because of the agreement, and another threatened to do so if the agreement is honored in full, Netanyahu promised both that the cease-fire he signed is only temporary and that, soon enough, he will order to renew the war – and by doing so, sacrifice the lives of about half of the living hostages currently held in Gaza.
This isn’t some conspiracy theory spread by Netanyahu’s opponents and critics. These are the words coming directly from his own loyalists and supporters.
On Sunday, while the vast majority of Israelis were celebrating the return of three brave woman hostages – an achievement also celebrated by Trump – the Israeli pundit most affiliated with Netanyahu, Amit Segal, crashed the party. He announced on television that he expects only 10 of the 94 hostages still in Gaza to be released before Netanyahu honors his promise to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and renew the war.
Segal isn’t making this up out of thin air; he is speaking directly to Netanyahu and Smotrich, and hearing from them what their plans are.
Netanyahu has two ways to sink the agreement and find an excuse to renew the war.
One option is to simply stall the negotiations for phase two, due to begin in 15 days, and waste time in the talks until the time expires. He performed this same exercise several times to Biden’s team, which was too weak or unwilling to admit the reality of his sabotage.
The second option is to provoke an outbreak of violence in the West Bank. The tinder is already flaring there: extremist settlers set fires to homes and cars in several Palestinian villages on Sunday night, at the same time as millions of Israelis were celebrating the three hostages’ return.
Again, this is being spelled out by Netanyahu’s cheerleaders, not his opponents. All one has to do to learn about this is to watch the pro-Netanyahu media outlet Channel 14, which has been telling its viewers ever since last week that the cease-fire deal is temporary, phase two won’t happen and Netanyahu will honor his commitments to Smotrich.
Smotrich, who speaks openly of establishing Jewish settlements in Gaza after forcing more than a million Palestinians out of there, has also been speaking clearly: He will quit the government if the second phase of the hostage deal, during which Hamas is supposed to release dozens of male hostages – including three American citizens – will be implemented.
Netanyahu has promised him that this won’t happen – contradicting the agreement he has signed and the promises he gave both to the White House and the hostage families to bring all of them home, not only those who are included in the first phase of the deal.
Netanyahu also knows that renewing the war, with Smotrich’s declared aim of forcing out the Palestinian population, will make it impossible to promote Trump’s signature policy goal in the Middle East: An historic Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement that would strengthen Israel’s alliance with the Arab Sunni countries, and isolate Iran. A deal like this will not be signed while Israeli tanks are killing Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli extremists, under Smotrich’s guidance, are building new settlements there.
The fate of my neighbor Omri Miran, who was kidnapped in front of his young daughter’s eyes on October 7 and is among the hostages slated for release in the second phase of the deal, is connected directly to the fate of Trump’s larger Middle East agenda.
If Trump insists that both Netanyahu and Hamas must both honor the deal they signed, then Omri will be released, the war will end, and peace and prosperity with Saudi Arabia might become possible.
But if the Trump administration misreads Netanyahu’s true intentions, or allows his right-hand man Ron Dermer to fool them with false promises like he did with Biden’s team, then my friend Omri will be sacrificed to fulfill Smotrich’s agenda – and with him, Trump’s vision for a better future for the Middle East.