Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July effectively spiked a draft hostage and ceasefire deal by introducing a raft of new, 11th-hour demands, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth citing a document it obtained.
The report lends credence to charges often leveled at the prime minister – most notably by hostage families – of purposefully prolonging the war and torpedoing deals for his political benefit. Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition have pledged to bring down the government should he end the war.
Several news outlets, including CNN, have reported on the late July demands made by Netanyahu, but this is the first time the Israeli document has been obtained in full.
Among the 11th-hour demands, according to the newspaper, was that Israel retain control of the Egypt-Gaza border area – a condition Netanyahu has since portrayed as non-negotiable, including at a press conference on Wednesday.
On July 25, a senior US Administration official told CNN that negotiators were “closer than we’ve ever been” and that it was “up to the Israelis to accept it.”
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that rather than accepting that proposal, the Israeli negotiators submitted new demands, making changes to the proposals they themselves had originally made.
The new demands were nicknamed the “Netanyahu Outline,” the newspaper reported.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/04/middleeast/netanyahu-derailed-hostage-deal-in-july-intl/index.html
Posted by Naurgul
5 comments
Netanyahu doesn’t really want the hostages back. It has been clear since day 1. He just wants to grab land and keep bombing Palestinians until they’re pushed out of Gaza and west bank.
This man is a straight up dck. He simps so hard for the far-right nutjobs that are ruining everything for both Israelis and Palestinians. The reasoning behind his stalling of the negotiations doesn’t have anything direct to do with Palestinians at all and revolves around his maniacal quest to avoid just trial. As long as the war rages on, he can’t be kicked out and his pending trials will remain frozen. This is extremely important to understand about Bibi’s character, as the man is obsessed with his image and legacy and he wants to be remembered as Israel’s greatest leader. Which is very far from the truth as he’s one of the most unpopular leaders to have ever existed in this country. Even right wingers have problems with how he’s been handling things. One particular example which is pretty much independent of ideology and is just being a straight up a-hole is that he *didn’t apologize for 10/7 nor own up to responsibility*. Now, mind you, in the past when Israel was attacked *the first thing the PM’s did was apologize and take full responsibility for it happening on their watch*, while Bibi has straight up denied responsibility and blamed virtually everyone else. Obviously this isn’t the worst he’s done, but is just a representative example of why everyone with 2 brain cells to put together hates Bibi regardless of political affiliation.
Still I believe that placing the negotiations’ fallout solely on Bibi is unjust, as Hamas’ terms have never been anything realistic. My main complaint is that their red-line in negotiations has been that they should be allowed kill the hostages before releasing them with no repercussions (I’m not even joking). Specifically, they insist on providing X number of hostages, dead or alive, with Israel required to release *the same amount of Palestinian prisoners for dead bodies as well as living hostages (500 prisoners for 15+ IIRC aged men, 30 for women, children under 15 and elderly). Anyway, under these terms there’s nothing stopping Hamas from executing all the hostages before releasing them, which I can’t really fault the Israelis for disagreeing with it.
My personal take is that it’s a mix of both – Netanyahu being very happy that Hamas make unreasonable demands, and not putting in any effort to make an actual counter-proposal that is realistic for Hamas to accept. I do, however, feel like it’s important to say that I do NOT want a conclusion that allows Hamas to remain in power. I sincerely believe that’s bad for Israelis but more so for Palestinians who IMO are the main victims of Hamas.
Has any mainstream anglo media interviewed the relatives of the American hostage who was killed by Hamas recently? I believe they were the ones who spoke at the DNC too. I’m interested in what they have to say regarding Netanyahu.
Should’ve just agreed to it to get the hostages back. Then gone right back after Hamas. I mean, Hamas has broken every deal they’ve made, so no sweat off Bibi’s back, especially since he’s gone the next election anyways.
Severely erroneous thinking. Never make deals with terrorists. It case it’s not clear, Hamas does not care about civilians or hostages. Making deals with terrorists just validates them. Hamas will just take more hostages in the future. Hamas said they will repeat Oct 7. They don’t even want the things you “pro-palestinians” believe they want. In the first deal, Hamas did not ask for any kind of help for Palestinians or peace for Gaza. They didn’t ask for any “justice” or even for detainees to be release… except for their fellow terrorists. They only wanted their fellow murders back. You people are blinded.
Never negotiate with terrorists.