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Monday, September 29, 2025
Former Netanyahu spokesman says PM ‘has no mandate to raise a white flag,’ calls Trump plan ‘absolute failure’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former spokesman tweets that the Israeli leader “has no mandate to raise a white flag,” after US President Donald Trump announces that Netanyahu had agreed to a 21-point plan for ending the war in Gaza and releasing the hostages held by Hamas.
In his first public criticism of Netanyahu since being fired this summer, Omer Dostri tweets that Trump’s plan represents an “absolute failure” that would mean Israel abandoning territory in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated, and prepare the way for “the return of the PA and the establishment of a Palestinian state,” as well as the cancellation of moves to faciliate voluntary migration by Palestinians.
Netanyahu fired Dostri in July, only days ahead of a previous trip to meet with Trump.
According to Channel 13, Dostri, who had been Netanyahu’s spokesperson for the past year, was leaving his position immediately because of a series of conflicts with the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu.
A source with knowledge of the details also told The Times of Israel that Sara Netanyahu’s attitude toward Dostri played a role in him stepping down, something denied by Netanyahu’s office.
Sources close to Netanyahu told Ynet that Dostri’s firing was not because of Sara, but rather because Netanyahu considered him incompetent. In February, Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu had repeatedly reprimanded Dostri for his conduct.
The Times of Israel Community.