Netanyahu under pressure.. Trump’s upcoming visit to Gaza confuses Tel Aviv

 US President Donald Trump revealed his intention to visit the Gaza Strip, at a time when anger is rising in the corridors of the White House over Netanyahu’s uncompromising positions and political evasions, which Washington considered an “insult”.

 

He said in an interview with “Times” magazine: American about developments in the Middle East: “I will.” Yes, I will. As you know, we have a peace council, which is in place. They asked me to be president of the council.”

 

 

He added: “I did not want that, believe me, but the Peace Council will be a very powerful group, and it will have great influence in the Middle East that is now united and this has never happened before.” He continued: “With the exception of Hamas, which is a marginal movement, but in theory, it was also united, and they signed the document and agreed to all these matters. Now they can oppose it. That’s okay, and then no one will mind if we intervene and hold them accountable.”

 

 

Regarding the issue of handing over the bodies of the Israeli prisoners remaining to the movement, Trump said: “The hostages have begun to play a negative role, and the Hamas movement has considered them a burden over the past two months. In other words, they were actually harming the Hamas movement and Iran. The US, whose representatives recently visited Israel, said that its most prominent ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is “walking on a very thin rope.” In his relationship with the US President, according to a senior US official.

Netanyahu’s approach, according to the US official, has ignited the US administration’s anger to the point of issuing strict threats of sanctions and escalatory decisions by President Trump if Netanyahu terminates the Gaza agreement.

Hebrew Channel 12 quoted the official as saying that American dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s behavior and his failure to control The internal conditions are such that US Vice President Vance described Israel as “not properly managed.”

This came against the backdrop of statements by the extremist Finance Minister and Netanyahu himself regarding the annexation of the West Bank, and other similar positions that the Vice President considered a “stupid maneuver.” He stressed that he was embarrassed during his visit to Israel.

Trump, in an interview with “Times” magazine, The American repeated the phrase "it won’t happen" 3 times in a row, when he was asked about the annexation of the West Bank, and he said: “It will not happen.” It won’t happen. It will not happen because I promised the Arab countries that.”

He added that he told Netanyahu: “You cannot do that now. We have had great Arab support. It will not happen because I promised the Arab countries. It will not happen.” “Israel will lose all support from the United States if that happens,” he said.

 

Provoking the opposition

For its part, the “New York Times” newspaper said: “The United States is Israel’s most important ally, and the symbolic primary votes have drawn the ire of the Trump administration, which has made strenuous efforts to keep its Arab partners committed to the Gaza agreement.”

Vice President J.D. Vance, who was concluding a two-day visit to Israel on Thursday, expressed anger at the Knesset vote. On annexation, he said that someone told him that this was just a symbolic political ploy with no practical value.

He said in a statement: “If this is a political ploy, then it is a very stupid political ploy, and I personally consider it an insult.” He added: “Israel will not annex the West Bank. The Trump administration’s policy is not to annex the West Bank to Israel.”

The Knesset was The Israeli government held votes on annexing the West Bank, on the same day Vance arrived in Israel, prompting Netanyahu to try to distance himself on Thursday from the votes that angered the US administration.

He said in a statement issued in English: “The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to create discord during the visit of Vice President J.D. Vance.” For Israel."

The proposals, put forward on Wednesday by two right-wing parliamentary opposition members, were largely symbolic and would need several more votes and significant work by committees to pass them into law.

But talk of annexation has gained increasing urgency in Israel in recent weeks, since countries, including some of Israel’s traditionally close allies, took action. The step to officially recognize the Palestinian state.

Palestinian destiny

These political maneuvers came at a sensitive time, amid a series of visits by American officials to Israel, with the aim of supporting the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which entered into force only two weeks ago after two years of war.

In turn, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was about to board the plane to Israel after the vote, said The Knesset told reporters that annexation is not something the administration “currently supports,” warning that “such steps may jeopardize the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.” The New York Times says: Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war includes a goal of a final and reliable path leading to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. Netanyahu opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, but he strongly opposed the Knesset vote. Which imposed American pressure. Netanyahu said that without the support of his conservative party, Likud, “these laws are unlikely to be introduced,” noting that “most countries in the world believe that the Jewish settlements in the West Bank constitute a violation of international law,” the newspaper says. According to the newspaper, “Netanyahu leads the most right-wing and religiously conservative coalition in the history of Israel, and key elements in it seek to annex large parts of the West Bank. Members of the extreme nationalist parties that make up the coalition, including a number of ministers on whose support Netanyahu depends, voted in favor of the annexation bills on Wednesday. Hard-line opposition members who introduced the bills have their own objections to Mr. Netanyahu. Other centrist members of the opposition used Wednesday’s vote to embarrass the prime minister and expose divisions in his coalition.  

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