Voices from left, right wary of US ceasefire proposal

Politicians from the right and the left continue to find common ground in their opposition to US ceasefire efforts in their current form.

Labor MK Nachman Shai tells Channel 10 that President Obama “stopped Israel with his action. He didn’t think far enough ahead.” Earlier, Shai told Ynet that “the United States imposed a ceasefire upon us too early.” But, he emphasizes, Israel cannot say no to the US.

Former Ambassador to the US Michael Oren says, according to Ynet, that Israel cannot ignore Obama’s proposal, but Israel “doesn’t have to answer this demand immediately. It could be that we are at the beginning of the end, but not at the end.”

Late Sunday night, Israel time, Obama called Prime Minister Netanyahu and urged an immediate ceasefire.

He also condemned Hamas attacks and reaffirmed “Israel’s right to defend itself.”

The president told the prime minister that any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza.”

The critical element of the conversation: He called for an “immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement.”