Gallant reportedly tells Netanyahu full cabinet should hold deliberations on Gaza deal, because stakes are so high

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold deliberations on the potential hostage-ceasefire deal with the participation of the full cabinet, rather than in the current small forum that includes Netanyahu, Gallant, Minister Ron Dermer and MK Aryeh Deri, Channel 12 news reports.

Gallant is arguing that the deliberations on the deal are of vast national significance, going beyond even the issue of terms for the return of the hostages, and extending to the potential for a descent into regional war.

Ordinarily, the full cabinet would only be required to approve a finalized deal. But, Gallant has reportedly told Netanyahu, it is inappropriate for the discussions over the deal to be held in any forum other than the full cabinet because of the potential implications, the TV report says.

Gallant has reportedly made the request of Netanyahu twice — on Thursday and again today, in the presence of the three senior security officials, Mossad’s David Barnea, Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar and the IDF’s Nitzan Alon, who have been leading the negotiations. Netanyahu has not agreed to it thus far, the report says.

It cites Gallant saying that Israel is at a strategic crossroads and that if there is no deal, there is a growing risk of military escalation, ultimately leading to potentially unstoppable regional war involving Hezbollah and Iran. Thus the authority for how the negotiations play out should rest with the full cabinet.

The same Channel 12 report also claims that Netanyahu, in their meeting today, complained to the negotiators that they were too ready to compromise during their contacts with the mediators of the potential deal.

“You are carrying out negotiations. You can’t fold after two days,” Netanyahu reportedly chastised them.

In response, the negotiators were quoted saying: “We have not been negotiating for two days. We have been negotiating for months. [Control of the] Philadelphi Corridor [along the Gaza-Egypt border] is not a security issue [for the period while the deal is being implemented]. We will return there [with the IDF] if we need to [later].”

Netanyahu’s demand for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, and Hamas’s rejection of the demand, is widely reported to be one of the key obstacles to a potential deal.