Officially, Israel denies — or rather declines to confirm — reaching an agreement with Hamas last week.
Indeed, the issue was not brought to the security Cabinet. New Right leader Naftali Bennett and his party colleague Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked have been running an election campaign headlined “Bennett will defeat Hamas," calling for a harsh stance against the Gaza Strip escalating violence and criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy on Hamas. But on April 1, Shaked conceded in an interview on Channel 13, “I have no idea whether there is an agreement with Hamas, I have not been updated.” Earlier, Shaked and Bennett had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the security Cabinet to discuss the reportedly emerging deal, saying they would vote against “Israel’s surrender to Hamas,” as Bennett described it.
