Senior minister says implosion of talks possible

A cabinet minister tells Ynet that there’s a chance that the negotiations with Hamas will implode, and that the side will revert to “quiet in exchange for quiet,” an informal ceasefire. The official explained that the Israeli negotiation team will return to Cairo on Sunday — not Saturday as previously reported — to continue the talks.

Meanwhile, the News1 website reports that attorney Yitzhak Molcho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close confidant and personal envoy in the talks with the Palestinians, didn’t attend the past several days of negotiations because of a personal conflict with the prime minister. According to the report, Molcho is upset by what he considers a zigzagging by Netanyahu and his agreement to concessions to the Palestinian Authority, and the damage in relations with the US.