Netanyahu Is Lying to Trump and Preparing to Sabotage the Gaza Cease-fire Deal -
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to, on behalf of the State of Israel, a cease-fire and hostage deal that includes three phases. This agreement, if implemented in full, should lead to the release of all the hostages held by Hamas since October 7 – among them two neighbors and close personal friends of mine – and an end to the war in Gaza. That's what is spelled out, loud and clear, from its pages.
This agreement was months in the making, with the persistent work of the Biden administration, but the credit for its eventual signing belongs more than anyone else, to U.S. President Donald Trump, and to his special envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff.
Trump's involvement in the negotiations pulled the talks out of a months-long stalemate, and Witkoff's last-minute trip to Jerusalem made it clear to Netanyahu that the deal had to be signed, with no more games, excuses and delays.
- Trump, not Netanyahu, will decide whether to restart the war and who will govern Gaza
- To free the remaining hostages will require battling both Hamas and Netanyahu
- 'Omri and the rest of the hostages must return – for the children'
But the same Netanyahu who eventually signed the agreement has been telling his domestic political allies that he has no intention to honor and implement it.
After one of the extremist, messianic parties in his governing coalition quit because of the agreement, and another one threatened to do so if the agreement is honored in full, Netanyahu promised to both that the cease-fire he signed on to is only temporary, and that soon enough, he will order to renew the war – and by doing so, sacrifice the lives of about half of the living hostages currently held in Gaza.
This isn't some conspiracy theory spread by Netanyahu's opponents and critics; these are words coming directly from his own loyalists and supporters.
On Sunday, when the vast majority of Israelis were celebrating the return of three brave female hostages – an achievement also celebrated by President Trump – the Israeli pundit most affiliated with Netanyahu, Amit Segal, crashed the party by announcing on television that he expects only ten of the 94 hostages still in Gaza will be released, before Netanyahu will honor his promise to far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and renew the war.
In Gaza City, Hamas militants hand over three Israeli women hostages kidnapped 15 months ago to the International Committee of the Red Cross, amid a surging crowd of Palestinian onlookersCredit: DAWOUD ABU ALKAS/ REUTERS
Segal isn't making this based on thin air; he is speaking directly to Netanyahu and Smotrich, and hearing from them what their plans are.
Netanyahu has two ways to sink the agreement and find an excuse to renew the war. One option is to simply stall the negotiations for phase two, due to begin in 15 days, and waste time in the talks until the time expires. He performed this same exercise several times to Biden's team, which was too weak or unwilling to admit the reality of his sabotage.
The second option is to provoke an outbreak of violence in the West Bank. The tinder is already flaring there: extremist settlers set fires to homes and cars in several Palestinian villages on Sunday night, at the same time that millions of Israelis celebrated the return of the three hostages.
Again, this is being spelled out by Netanyahu's cheerleaders, not his opponents; all one has to do to learn about this is watch Channel 14, the pro-Netanyahu media outlet, which has been telling its viewers ever since last week that the cease-fire deal is temporary, phase two won't happen, and Netanyahu will honor his commitments to Smotrich.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaking at the 'Preparing to Settle Gaza' conference late last yearCredit: Tomer Appelbaum
Smotrich, who speaks openly of establishing Jewish settlements in Gaza after forcing more than a million Palestinians out of there, has also been speaking clearly: he will quit the government if the second phase of the hostage deal, during which Hamas is supposed to release dozens of male hostages, among them three American citizens, will be implemented.
Netanyahu has promised him that this won't happen – contradicting the agreement he has signed and the promises he gave both to the White House and to the hostage families to bring all of them back home, not only those who are included in the first phase of the deal.
Netanyahu also knows that renewing the war, with Smotrich's declared aim of forcing out the Palestinian population, will make it impossible to promote President Trump's signature policy goal in the Middle East: A historic Israeli-Saudi peace agreement that will strengthen Israel's alliance with the Arab Sunni countries, and isolate Iran. An agreement like this will not be signed while Israeli tanks are killing Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli extremists, under Smotrich's guidance, are building new settlements there.
A poster of Israeli hostage Omri Miran at a Tel Aviv rally calling for a hostage/cease-fire deal last monthCredit: Kai Pfaffenbach/ REUTERS
The fate of my neighbor Omri Miran, who was kidnapped in front of his young daughter's eyes on October 7, and is among the hostages slated for release in the second phase of the deal, is connected directly to the fate of President Trump's larger Middle East agenda.
If President Trump insists that both Netanyahu and Hamas must both honor the deal they signed, then Omri will be released, the war will end, and peace and prosperity with Saudi Arabia will become possible.
But if the Trump administration misreads Netanyahu's true intentions, or allows his right-hand man Ron Dermer to fool them with false promises like he did with Biden's team, then my friend Omri will be sacrificed to fulfill Smotrich's agenda – and with him, the Trump vision for a better future for the Middle East.