Netanyahu rejects US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah – but did he initially support it? | The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com | David Israel | 24 Eloul 5784 – Friday September 27, 2024

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying, “Due to widespread misinformation surrounding the U.S.-led ceasefire initiative, it is important to clarify a few points. Earlier this week, the United States informed Israel of its intention to present, along with other international and regional partners, a proposal for a ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel shares the goals of the U.S.-led initiative to allow people living along our northern border to return home safely. Israel appreciates American efforts in this regard because the American role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region.

The statement concluded: “Our teams met on Thursday, September 26, to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of bringing people home safely. We will continue these discussions in the coming days.

THIS IS HOW BIDEN DOES BUSINESS

Remember how on May 31, President Joe Biden reached a ceasefire deal in Gaza that he said had been agreed to by the Israelis? He said: “Today, after intensive diplomacy by my team and my many conversations with the leaders of Israel, Qatar, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has now proposed – Israel has proposed a new comprehensive proposal. It is a road map towards a lasting ceasefire and the release of all hostages.”

Biden then described the Israeli proposal, which included a widespread capitulation to Hamas’s demands, as the president presented it: “The first phase would last six weeks. Here’s what that would include: a complete and complete ceasefire; a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza; a release of a number of hostages – including women, the elderly and the wounded – in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The only problem was that Israel had nothing to do with the proposal it was supposed to have submitted, and the Netanyahu government was already invested in an offensive towards southern Gaza, with a view to capturing the Rafah crossing into Egypt and the gun-cutting Philadelphia corridor. smuggling from Sinai to Hamas.

Turns out this outright lie on the part of the White House wasn’t a bug. It’s a feature.

Axios’ Barak Ravid, White House spokesman until a better president takes office, advocated this strategy that turns any consideration of Netanyahu’s idea into a policy change:

“Netanyahu on Thursday returned to a private agreement with the Biden administration and distanced himself from the proposed 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon put forward by the United States, France and other allies. … U.S. officials said Netanyahu and those close to him were directly involved in formulating the temporary ceasefire.

Then Ravid presented the familiar dogma: “The change of prime minister, which comes after public threats from his government’s far-right ministers and attacks from Israeli opposition leaders, could increase tensions with the Biden administration. »

In other words, the prime minister was willing to sign a deal giving Hezbollah three weeks to recover from the series of blows it just received and to bring in Iranian weapons and munitions to replace what was lost. in more than a thousand Israeli airstrikes – but those were right. Right-wing extremists and opposition leaders forced his hand.

He also forces his hand: 70,000 evacuees from the north and 90% of respondents to every opinion poll imaginable.

Except maybe there was no need to force the hand and the White House is lying, you know?

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, was asked Thursday: “If this was coordinated with the Israeli side and it was expected last night, as senior American officials shared, to “As both sides agree on this imminently, why are we hearing from the Prime Minister’s Office today…”

Jean-Pierre strongly implied that, you know, Bibi is a liar: “I’m just laying out the facts and what we know and what we want to avoid. We do not believe that all-out war is the solution, and we have made that very clear. The president was very clear on this. I just laid out the facts and what we’re trying to do. This is a clear call for a temporary ceasefire. We want to offer space. We talk about how diplomacy is the way forward. That’s what the president believes. I indicated that the statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side. I can’t speak for them. They will have to speak for themselves.

They just did it.

WHY NOW?

Here’s a question: How come this call for a ceasefire and increased diplomatic efforts is only being made when Israel is starting to win? For 11 months, Hezbollah has pounded northern Israel for the sole reason that Israel was trying to end the threat from Hamas in Gaza. Aside from Amos Hochstein shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem, where was the American and European outcry? And where was he when Hezbollah murdered 12 Druze children on a soccer field in Majdal Shams? What, no UN resolutions?

The funny thing is that Israel is obeying UN orders in Lebanon, trying to enforce Resolution 1701 of 2006, which calls on Hezbollah to withdraw to the north bank of the Litani River, about 28 kilometers from the Israeli border. So what is there to negotiate? Hezbollah is violating the will of the world, and Israel will not rest until it forces it to obey.

There’s another funny thing, which has to do with the fact that Netanyahu is one of the most gifted politicians in the world, and certainly in Israel. He succeeded in shifting public attention from the senseless demands to “bring the hostages home now,” regardless of Israel’s present and future security needs, to “the return of evacuated Israelis to safe homes along of the Lebanese border”, which is absolutely in line with Israel’s security needs.

Remember that before entering politics, Netanyahu was a furniture salesman. He can sell a superb Sven wardrobe to the CEO of Ikea. Remember how determined President Barack Obama was to destroy Bibi? Well, look around: who is still sitting in the Catbird seat?