Meeting in Washington, prime minister leaves empty-handed after insisting that talks with Hamas and Tehran are futile and that more military force is needed to achieve goals
Times of Israel
Netanyahu came to the White House on Wednesday to discuss what to do when meeting enemies ‘eye-to-eye’ or ‘jaw-to-jaw’ stops being viable.
When he announced the last-minute trip, Netanyahu said he would insist that ‘any negotiations must include restrictions on ballistic missiles and an end to support for the Iranian axis.’
Iran says that it won’t talk about anything beyond its nuclear program, and even there, it is unlikely that Tehran is willing to concede enough to meet minimum US demands.
The fact that Netanyahu saw a need to urgently make his way to the White House after only one round of US-Iran talks indicates how concerned he is about the possibility of Trump deciding to drop the demands on Iran’s missiles and proxies and to rush towards a deal on the nuclear file alone.
If talks do fall apart, as they are likely to do, Netanyahu wants to be sure the US and Israel have coordinated on what happens next and what role Israel will have in any military action.
On Gaza as well, Netanyahu is less interested in discussing diplomacy than in coordinating how to deal with its failure to achieve demilitarization.
An Israeli source with knowledge of the details told The Times of Israel that shortly before the prime minister took off from Israel that Netanyahu planned to tell Trump that the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire ‘is not moving.’
The US-brokered ceasefire plan reached in October foresees the demilitarization of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave. Hamas however has not agreed to give up its weapons, a matter that both Israel and the US consider to be non-negotiable, although there are signs that the two may not agree on the exact contours of what ‘full disarmament’ means.
The source said Israel has been telling the US that another Israeli military operation is necessary to rid Hamas of its firepower.
The Israel Defense Forces is already drawing up plans for a renewed offensive aimed at that goal, and is just awaiting a green light from the political leadership, The Times of Israel has learned.
The message to Trump is that if he wants his ambitious vision for the Middle East to have any chance of becoming a reality, he must first concede the need for more war.
A potential fresh IDF campaign would be faster and more effective than previous operations in Gaza, since there are no more hostages to avoid in military operations, although a senior military official conceded last week that it would still take several years to fully disarm the terror group.
For the time being, Trump is keeping the Israeli tanks idling and pressing ahead with his international diplomatic plan for Gaza, and, publicly at least, Netanyahu has little choice but to go along.
Meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the prime minister boasted about signing a document officially joining the Board of Peace. But the veneer could barely hide his lack of enthusiasm for diplomacy when he sees battle as the only way ahead.
Negotiations to continue, for now
Even with world leaders convening in Washington next week to talk about the future of Gaza, with Hamas openly and defiantly refusing to disarm, an Israeli military operation is looking more and more like the only way to get to a post-Hamas future in Gaza.
And Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday ruled out Tehran ever giving up uranium enrichment, a position that would mean talks with the US are doomed and that Trump would be left with no more excuses to push off a strike.
But Netanyahu has yet to convince Trump that there is more military work to be done before it is time for diplomatic moves.
‘There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated,’ Trump posted on social media after his three-hour meeting with Netanyahu at the White House.
‘I let the Prime Minister know that a deal is what I prefer, and only if it cannot be done, that we will just have to see what the outcome will be,’ he added cryptically.