Apparently I’m not alone in believing Netanyahu will renege as soon as possible, because he never intended for this issue to resolve. This is a ploy. Because the hostages were not his concern. Primary or secondary.
The cease-fire agreement has yet to be signed.
Potential last-minute complications still hover above it, as an insensitive prime minister, a convicted criminal in the role of the national security minister and a conscienceless charlatan called the finance minister threaten the lives of 33 hostages.
The Gaza cease-fire deal hasn't changed in eight months. Why did Netanyahu accept it now?
Their hope now hangs on the muscles of another dark felon, who has managed to prove (again), even before entering the White House, that Benjamin Netanyahu only understands force. Donald Trump threatened to open the gates of hell if a deal wouldn’t be reached, and while he didn’t mention the target of the threat by name, the threatened one understood.
The only ones who aren’t impressed by the threat of hell are the hostages. They know it well. They and we can only wait in horror for the moment they emerge from the abyss and cast their dead eyes upon us to ask: “Where were you until now?“
The time for public soul-searching will arrive, and it will require an answer to one burning question: How did the public fail to use its power to twist the government’s arm, to force the cease-fire and save the hostages when Joe Biden presented his plan, which is nearly identical to the present deal, many months ago, when the list of living hostages was longer?And if things go well, the rest of the hostages will be released, but this will also require full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
If the government were serious about its intention to complete a comprehensive agreement, to get “every last” hostage back, to save soldiers’ lives and to pay the price for a deal, why didn’t it go for one comprehensive deal, in one go, without dividing into phases, when it’s clear that the results will be identical to a two-stage deal?
Why not save the lives of more hostages, who could die precisely during negotiations for their release?
Why risk the lives of soldiers whose entire mission will be only to be present on the ground until the end of negotiations while awaiting the order to withdraw?
The answer to this leads to the conclusion that the government doesn’t intend to reach the second phase of the deal, and the phase’s very existence attest to its malicious intentions. And indeed, this conclusion makes it imperative to save every life possible in the first phase, as if there would never be a second phase.
Don’t be deceived by illusions.
The aspiration to reestablish a presence in Gaza and the dream of settling it never disappeared. They were only postponed by a couple of weeks.
The aspiration to reestablish a presence in Gaza and the dream of settling it never disappeared. They were only postponed by a couple of weeks.
2 replies on “‘Phase Two’: How Israel Plans to Abandon the Hostages”
Always trusted your analysis on this. They won’t give up. How come all of the Middle East and Russia cannot come together to take on Israel? Is Israel really this strong? Is the Middle East really this divided?
Thanks for the vote of confidence, not sure I’ve earned it, but appreciate it 🙂
I could be wrong, I hope to be wrong, but already, it doesn’t seem so
Yes, Israel is strong because the US/UK back it
And yes the Middle East is that divided.
Russia has problems of it’s own- along it’s borders. So it’s ability to ally and/or modify the outcomes in that region is limited.