Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new hostage deal proposal on Friday by completely rejecting the idea that Israel will agree to a ceasefire before the first phase of the deal and a permanent ceasefire during the second phase.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu stated.
“Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the proposal by saying that they will quit the government if Netanyahu agrees to the deal.
Smotrich said: “I spoke now with the prime minister and I clarified to him that I will not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed plan and end the war without the destruction of Hamas and the return of all the hostages.”
“We will not agree to end the war before the destruction of Hamas, or the erosion of the achievements of the war via the retreat of the IDF and the return of Gazans to northern Gaza, or to the wholesale release of terrorists who will return, chalilah, to murdering Jews.”
Ben-Gvir said that “the deal means the end of the war and giving up on Hamas. This is a dangerous deal which is a victory for terrorism and a security danger for the State of Israel.”
New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar responded by stating: “A plan that enables Hamas to remain as the governing and military force in Gaza means a continued threat to Israeli citizens in general and to the residents of the Gaza border area in particular.”
“This would be a defeat for Israel and a victory for Hamas, with far-reaching consequences.”
(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)
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4 Responses
Maybe it pays to agree, take out all hostages, stop fighting on condition that the first rocked breaks the ceasefire. It’s gonna happen very quickly. This way if they are not able to release hostages or they start shooting rockets again the world will hopefully blame them for breaching the ceasefire. They can all protest against hamas for not wanting a ceasefire…
Biden is completely out of his mind
Biden and/or Blinken must be high on something. Or just very desperate for a breakthrough.
Netanyahu has a bit more sense than the total was leftists. And anyone else who has a tiny bit of sense knows that you don’t make a ceasefire with terrorists who do not give up on their terrorist agenda.