Gallant, Halevi both said to tell PM he knows his new demands are dooming hostage deal

More details emerge from a Wednesday night meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security chiefs at which they reportedly urged him to close a deal with Hamas, he slapped them down, and they left the meeting concluding that he was not interested in a hostage-ceasefire deal at present.

Further quotes from the meeting show IDF chief Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant both telling Netanyahu that the new conditions he is demanding, which have reportedly been included in an updated Israeli proposal, will doom the deal, and that he knows this.

In response, Channel 12 quotes a senior source, who it indicates is Netanyahu himself, accusing his critics of acting out of political motives.

According to tonight’s report by Channel 12 news, which first reported on the meeting last night, Halevi said during the heated discussion: “The conditions for the deal are there. I think it is correct to engage in negotiations and bring the best achievement possible. We’ll continue to apply [military] pressure on Hamas until then, and once we’ve brought a deal we can turn our attention to the north.”

Halevi reportedly added, “As regards [control of the] Philadelphi [route along the Gaza-Egypt border], I do not recommend that we turn it into an obstacle or something that prevents us from bringing home from [Gaza] 30 people in the first stage [of the deal], half of them women.”

Gallant reportedly weighed in: “For all the moral and strategic reasons, I think we have to look at the deal as an opportunity. There won’t be a deal with the [four new] conditions you’ve inserted [into the proposal], and you know it.”

Gallant reportedly added: “There is no security reason to delay the deal. Since we’re speaking candidly, I am telling you that you are making considerations that are not beneficial to the matter.”

The TV report says Netanyahu’s office insists that he does want a deal, and is insisting on conditions that will prevent Hamas from regaining power in Gaza and carrying out further October 7-style attacks.

It says that Israel’s negotiators are “on the edge” and that matters “are close to blowing up” — in an apparent reference to the friction between the prime minister and the security chiefs.

Israel’s negotiators, including Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, traveled to and from Cairo today for talks on the Philadelphi Corridor issue and the Rafah border crossing. But Channel 12 quotes a senior source familiar with the negotiations saying, “This was a trip solely for reasons of protocol, playing for time. Netanyahu’s current positions will not yield real progress.”

The report then quotes a “political source,” who it indicates is actually Netanyahu himself, saying that there is no deal to be finalized at present. Those who say there is a deal on the table “are not telling the truth and are acting out of political motives.”

Defense Minister Gallant’s office says it does not respond to grave leaks from sensitive discussions.

Last night, when denying the accuracy of the initial report on Wednesday’s meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement specifically dismissing the claim that Mossad chief Barnea said at the meeting that there is a deal ready and that Israel must take it.

Netanyahu is reported to be planning to fire Gallant, and possibly Halevi and Bar as well.