‘Netanyahu’s no to UN was a polite way of saying no to Obama’

Channel 2’s Udi Segal suggests that Netanyahu’s phone call to Ban Ki-moon just now, rejecting the UN Security Council’s ceasefire call, was his polite way of rejecting President Obama’s demand for an immediate ceasefire without a direct confrontation.

Hence, says Segal, Netanyahu stressed to Ban the need for “the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip according to the principles laid down in the interim agreements with the Palestinians.”

When they spoke last night, Obama said that “any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza.”

Netanyahu, according to Segal, is making the point that the disarmament of the terror groups is what the IDF is currently working toward, and that a credible framework for a demilitarized Gaza needs to be part of the ceasefire terms.