Divisions within Israeli war cabinet
Israeli media reports indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “fuming” at the thought of Benny Gantz meeting with US officials, some going so far as to say Netanyahu himself said, “There’s only one prime minister for the state of Israel.”
Gantz’s office did release a statement saying that on Friday, the former defence minister did brief Netanyahu on his travels, who he was meeting and how long he would be gone. But there have been divisions in Israel’s war cabinet after Gantz and his party, National Unity, entered into an emergency war government with the prime minister.
Gantz has had a lot of different opinions on how the war should be prosecuted and what kind of policy Netanyahu is enabling when it comes to succumbing to pressure from the far-right members of his government, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Source close to Gantz shares his US trip agenda with Al Jazeera
A source close to the Israeli war cabinet minister tells Al Jazeera that his trip to the US is about “strengthening the strategic alliance between the two countries, preserving the legitimacy for the continuation of the ground operation in Gaza” and continued US diplomatic support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
The trip is also aimed at “promoting a security arrangement in Lebanon” amid rising cross-border exchanges. This is quite new. Earlier in the conflict, the US moved large amounts of military assets and personnel into the region out of concern that the conflict could spread.
Gantz also seeks “strengthening US pressure on the negotiators, the mediators on the subject of the hostage framework”, the source added. This seems to be a major sticking point over the past few days, not just about where these captives are, how they will be released, how many will be released in exchange for how many Palestinian prisoners but, crucially, which ones are still alive.
And discussions Gantz will be involved in, including with congressional leaders and administration officials, will focus on “the normalisation agreements [between Israel and Arab countries]” and the plane for “the day after” the war ends. One big question many observers have is who is going to be in charge in Gaza after the war ends.
Smotrich wants Israel’s war on Gaza to continue throughout Ramadan
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said “only more pressure on Hamas in Ramadan will force them to kneel” and release the Israeli captives.
“We must not allow Hamas to choose who is released from among our abductors, and the demand must be the release of all abductees,” he said.
His comments came as Qatari and Egyptian mediators met US and Hamas envoys in Cairo for a second day of talks aimed at a pause in fighting before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan starts next week. Israel has not sent a delegation so far.
