‘Crisis’ in cease-fire talks, Israel says, despite Trump, Biden claims deal is complete
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s team says the deal is not yet done, prompting a mixture of relief and concern on Capitol Hill
deal or no deal
Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with President-elect Donald Trump, Jan. 15th, 2025
New demands by Hamas have created a “crisis” in the negotiations for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for a temporary cease-fire and the release of Palestinian terrorists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday, disputing President-elect Donald Trump’s assertion the day before – which was backed up in short order by President Joe Biden and Qatari officials – that it was a done deal.
The Israeli prime minister’s announcement that the deal was not complete was met on Capitol Hill with relief by the agreement’s skeptics and concern from those supporting it. It also prompted a flurry of confusion over the actual status of the agreement.
The Prime Minister’s Office said early Thursday morning local time in Israel that Hamas was making new demands and wanted to revoke Israel’s veto power over releasing “mass murderers who are symbols of terror.”
“The prime minister instructed the negotiating team to stand behind the understandings that were already reached and to categorically reject Hamas’s last-minute blackmail attempts,” the statement read.
The PMO later said that Hamas’ insistence was causing a “crisis” in the talks, and indefinitely postponed a Thursday morning cabinet meeting to approve the hostage deal.
On Wednesday, the PMO said that “an official statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be issued only after the completion of the final details of the agreement, which are being worked on at present.”
Netanyahu and Trump spoke on the phone on Wednesday, and the prime minister thanked the president-elect “for his help in advancing the release of the hostages,” but not for reaching an agreement.
“The prime minister made clear that he is committed to bringing back the hostages in any way and praised the American president-elect for his words that the U.S. will work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a shelter for terror,” the Israeli readout stated. It also said they agreed Netanyahu would visit Washington soon.
Netanyahu spoke with Biden after, and thanked him as well for advancing a hostage deal.
One of Biden’s closest confidantes on Capitol Hill, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed dismay over the situation to Jewish Insider. “The president wouldn’t be jumping up and down saying, ‘We have a deal’ [at a press conference] if we didn’t have it,” the lawmaker said. “It’s entirely possible that Netanyahu said yes [to the deal] and then decided to say no. That is possible.”
After Trump announced the deal early Wednesday, congressional Republicans began trying to confirm the news with Israeli and Qatari contacts as well as with the incoming Trump administration. Democrats subsequently started calling the White House and their Israeli and Qatari counterparts for clarity on the situation, at which point Biden delivered a hastily scheduled address confirming the news while senior administration officials began publicly addressing their “almost unprecedented” cooperation with the Trump team.
Asked about these developments in the Capitol on Wednesday evening, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s nominee to be secretary of state, said that he had been in his confirmation hearing all day and was not up to date on Netanyahu’s most recent comments. Still, he noted that Biden’s senior advisors and Trump’s transition team were the ones handling the three-phase deal.
“Obviously, the current administration and the transition are handling that, so we’ll see what emerges. We’ll wait for official notifications,” Rubio told JI.
A spokesperson for the president-elect did not respond to JI’s request for comment on Netanyahu contradicting Trump’s claim that the deal was done. Nor did the White House.
Netanyahu’s unwillingness to promptly agree to the deal came as no shock to Republicans who were wary about the terms of the Biden-led pact, despite the fact that the move required the prime minister to openly go against Trump.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Netanyahu’s refusal to be rushed into a deal could lead to a better agreement being drafted under the new Trump administration.
“It doesn’t surprise me that the deal’s not done,” Tillis told JI. “I think it’s good that the talks are going to transition into the next administration. I would have been more concerned if this was the final thing.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said he had “mixed feelings” about the update, telling JI, “Any time you can get some hostages out is a good thing, but this war would be over if Hamas and Iran would simply quit shooting, quit trying to kill Israelis.”
Regardless, he argued that the hostage-release and cease-fire deal announced by Trump and Biden was not the United States’ agreement to make. “Obviously, it should be up to the Israelis. It should be Israel’s decision, not our decision, about the terms, especially since they’ve lost so many citizens,” Cornyn said.
“Maybe he just wants to cause Hamas and Iran a little more pain. Maybe he thinks he needs a better deal,” he added of Netanyahu.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) described the entire situation as puzzling, telling JI, “There’s something going on here, right? Because it’s being reported by some that it’s a done deal and that he [Netanyahu] was distancing himself from his right flank, but he’s being real cagey.”
“Oh that doesn’t shock me at all. Israel has to have a deal that they’re happy with,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) told JI after hearing that Netanyahu had not yet committed to the framework.
Ricketts dismissed the notion of prioritizing Trump’s inauguration schedule over securing the best possible arrangement to ensure Israel’s security, regardless of the timeline. “I think the priority ought to be what is best for Israel’s security because Israel’s got concerns there in Gaza and they have to deal with Hamas,” he said.
Still, the Nebraska senator maintained that he had faith in the president-elect and the Cabinet he was building out to ensure Israel was not left with a less favorable deal.
“Trump’s got a good team. They’re working in collaboration with the Biden administration. They’ll come to a good answer for Israel,” Ricketts said.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), one of the leading pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party who met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence this week, said that he supported Netanyahu not getting behind the agreement if he had issues with the conditions.
“I’ve been very clear they have to pulverize Hamas. That’s really critical, even though essentially they’ve done a lot of that,” Fetterman told JI. “I’m going to follow Israel’s voice through this.”
Asked about the prime minister’s apparent daylight with Trump, Biden and Qatar, Fetterman noted his own disagreements with the outgoing president, even though both are members of the Democratic Party, on how to approach Israel and Netanyahu specifically since Oct. 7. “I’ve disagreed with Joe Biden throughout [this conflict],” he said. “My view is [we should be] following Israel through it.”