As he stalls Gaza plan, will Netanyahu pick his far-right coalition over Trump?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t publicly go against the Gaza plan of President Donald Trump, but he keeps stalling on discussing the parameters for the implementation of the plan’s second phase.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly embraced President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, but he continues to stall discussions on its implementation. Analysts suggest he has little intention of fully carrying it out amid mounting pressure from the far-right flank of his coalition.
Announced on Sept. 29, Trump’s 21-point plan has three parts. The first calls for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a partial withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and an expansion of humanitarian aid. The second calls for a full Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hamas, and the third calls for Gaza’s reconstruction, with oversight by a Peace Board, paving the way for a technocratic or transitional Palestinian government to administer Gaza and eventually move toward Palestinian statehood.
The expected second phase of the plan puts Netanyahu in a difficult position. He faces pressure from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to reject it, while Trump is pressing him to move forward. Netanyahu’s decision last week to appoint Ben-Gvir and Smotrich — along with three Likud ministers — to the team overseeing the second phase casts doubt on the future of the ceasefire.
Pressure from Washington
