US official: Netanyahu demurred when Blinken asked him to publicly reject ‘General’s Plan’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top aides sidestepped US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s request during a meeting Tuesday to publicly clarify that Israel is not seeking to lay siege to northern Gaza, a US official tells The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer insisted during the meeting that Israel is not implementing the so-called General’s Plan aimed at isolating northern Gaza and argued that claims to the contrary have been detrimental to Israel’s public image, the US official says.

Blinken urged Netanyahu to clarify this publicly, but he and his aides demurred, the official adds.

The back-and-forth highlighted a long-held US frustration with the Israeli premier, who Washington feels offers private assurances that he knows the US wants to hear while failing to follow through in public due to fear of alienating the far-right coalition partners he relies on to remain in power.