Israel’s head of government is notorious for his hesitation. He wants to take extremist coalition partners into consideration. Now the opposition leader is making him an offer.
Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz has promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his support if Israeli negotiators agree on a ceasefire and hostage exchange in indirect talks with Hamas in the coming weeks. His National Unity Party will fully support any reasonable agreement that leads to the return of the hostages kidnapped by the Islamists, Gantz said in a telephone call with Netanyahu, according to his office.
The talks, which are being mediated by the USA, Egypt and Qatar, have been at a standstill for a long time. However, a new round of negotiations is set to begin in the Qatari capital Doha in the next few days after Hamas signalled flexibility on some points of a mediator proposal supported by Israel. Hamas is demanding an end to the war and wants to release the hostages in exchange for a large number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
There are fears in Israel that Netanyahu will refuse to agree to a deal, as he did in earlier phases of the negotiations, because he has to take into account his ultra-religious and far-right coalition partners. They are resisting possible concessions – such as ending the Gaza war before Hamas is completely destroyed – and are threatening to leave the coalition.
Netanyahu’s fear of government collapse
Gantz’s pledge to support Netanyahu in a possible ceasefire and hostage agreement is an attempt to appease the head of government if his coalition partners abandon him. However, a collapse of the coalition would sooner or later lead to new elections, in which Netanyahu’s Likud party would not have a good chance, according to polls.
Gantz, along with other moderate politicians, was part of the war cabinet that was formed after the unprecedented Hamas massacre on October 7 of the previous year. Gantz and his colleagues left the war cabinet in June because Netanyahu refused to push forward with post-war planning in the Gaza Strip.
In the attack on southern Israel, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip. Israel suspects that there are still about 120 hostages there, but many of them are probably no longer alive.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
