PM reportedly shelved Gaza truce plan he planned to present in April 2024 after Smotrich threatened to collapse gov’t

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April 2024 reportedly shelved a truce plan his aides had crafted that would have secured the release of at least 30 hostages due to a threat from far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to collapse his government.

Similar to the framework currently under discussion, the truce Netanyahu planned to push would have created a window to permanently end the war and release the remaining hostages, The New York Times reports in an exposé revealing how the Israeli premier extended the Gaza war for political gain.

Moving forward with the deal would have raised the chances for a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, whose leadership had been secretly signaling its willingness to accelerate peace talks with Israel as long as the Gaza war ended, the NYT says.

But ending the war then would have risked toppling Netanyahu’s government, made up of far-right factions determined to establish settlements in Gaza and clear the Strip of as many of its Palestinian residents as possible.

Netanyahu kept the truce plan from his government until the last minute, hoping to push it through the cabinet before his far-right coalition partners had time to organize against it.

As the cabinet convened for a meeting in April 2024, one of Netanyahu’s aides brought him a text summarizing the truce proposal for the premier to present.

But before he could, Smotrich entered the room, declaring that he had gotten wind of the plan, branding it a “surrender agreement” and warning Netanyahu that he wouldn’t have a government if it went through, The Times reports, citing minutes from the cabinet meeting.

Spooked by Smotrich’s response, Netanyahu assured the finance minister that no such plan was on the table.

The premier then quietly whispered to his security advisers, “Don’t present the plan,” and the meeting proceeded to discuss other matters.

That same month, the NYT reports that officials in then-US president Joe Biden’s administration highlighted to Netanyahu during one conversation polls showing that over 50 percent of Israelis support a hostage deal over continuing the war.

“Not 50 percent of my voters,” the paper quotes Netanyahu as having replied.