Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gabir published a tweet today (Tuesday) on his Twitter account and referred to the outline of the kidnapping deal that is taking shape with the terrorist organization Hamas, according to the publications, and threatened: “A promiscuous deal = dissolution of the government.”
Last night, on Otzma Yehudit’s Radio North 104.5FM, Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf addressed the tensions in the coalition, saying: “We are in a very complex political constellation. Netanyahu has to choose between Benny Gantz and the state camp and Itamar Ben Gabir and Otzma Yehudit. Our red line is the end of the war without victory – there will not be government if there is no war.”
He also added: “We are against ending the war because it also endangers our fighters and harms Israel’s security. I go to meet bereaved families and they tell me two things – that they want unity and that we don’t stop the war. They don’t want to see that their children fell in vain.”
In the meantime, Minister Hili Trooper (‘the state camp’) clarified earlier today that his party also gave its own ultimatum to the Prime Minister: “I also told the families of the abductees, stopping the war is out of the question, we will have to pay heavy prices, but stopping the war is not a price that Israel can pay. If it seems that there is a deal that can be lived with with Hamas and Netanyahu will not sign it, we will withdraw from the government. Even if we replace Netanyahu, the target for Hamas’s destruction will not change.”
As you may recall, after the reports of the rejection of the hostage deal by Hamas, the head of the political bureau of the organization, Ismail Haniyeh, sent a surprising message, saying that his people “do not outright rule out the deal, and are studying its details now.”
In his words, Haniyeh said that Hamas is interested in reaching a permanent ceasefire as part of the deal, but denied the reports that the organization had already replied in the negative. “We received the proposal that was circulated after the meeting in Paris and we are studying it in order to respond to it,” he said, “Our response will be based on stopping the attacks against Gaza and the withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip. Hamas is open to discussing any serious idea, provided it leads to a total ceasefire and the guarantee of shelter for our displaced persons.” .
Despite American pressure: the factor that continues to delay the nascent hostage deal
Abandoned transaction = dissolution of the government
— Itamar Ben Gabvir (@itamarbengvir) January 30, 2024