Official says Netanyahu’s press briefing ‘torpedoed’ hostage deal efforts – report
CNN cites source close to negotiations as saying PM’s insistence on Israel staying on Gaza-Egypt border is blocking talks; far-right coalition partners applaud his stance
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conference on Monday evening stirred up criticism both locally and abroad, with a source familiar with the ongoing hostage release-ceasefire deal talks charging that the Israeli premier had torpedoed negotiators’ efforts with his briefing.
According to CNN, negotiators had continued work on the ceasefire proposal even in the aftermath of the IDF’s extraction from Gaza over the weekend of the bodies of six hostages, who were executed by Hamas terrorists just days before troops found them.
However, after Netanyahu doubled down on his demand for Israel to remain in control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border during the press conference, an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations told CNN, “This guy torpedoed everything in one speech.”
During the briefing, Netanyahu argued forcefully for what he said was the “strategic imperative” to keep Israeli troops stationed along the Philadelphi Corridor, insisting that retaining control over the 14-kilometer (8.7 miles) strip of land, which Hamas has long used for smuggling weapons into the Strip, is essential for Israel to achieve its war aims.
He also rejected the assertion that the six hostages murdered by Hamas in Gaza last week were killed because his terms had prevented a deal.
“We didn’t manage to extricate them. We were very close. It’s terrible,” he said. “But it didn’t happen because of that decision [made by his cabinet last week, that Israel insists on continued control of the Philadelphi Corridor in any potential deal.]
“It happened, first, because they [Hamas] don’t want a deal,” he said. “I look for every means… to bring them home,” he said of the hostages.
Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the mounting number of dead hostages and have been calling for a hostage-ceasefire agreement to free the 97 abductees taken on October 7 who are still held in Gaza — even if that means ending the conflict.
Mass demonstrations that swept the country on Sunday and Monday after the news of the execution of the six hostages were the largest show of support for a hostage deal since October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Throughout the war, critics have claimed Netanyahu has put his political survival above all else, including the fate of the hostages. His rule relies on support from his ultranationalist coalition partners, who hold key positions in government.
Headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, they oppose any deal that ends the war or sets free Palestinian security prisoners convicted of killing Israelis. They have vowed to topple the government should Netanyahu agree to a ceasefire — a step that would trigger elections and remove the prime minister from office.
Shortly after Monday’s press conference, opposition lawmakers were quick to criticize the prime minister’s comments, accusing him of lying about his record and failing to protect Israelis, though his far-right coalition partners lauded his tough stance.
“What he cares about is his political survival,” said Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. “His political survival with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich doesn’t allow him to end the war and bring back the hostages.”
Netanyahu’s condition that Israeli troops remain along Philadelphi and the Netzarim Corridor, another key strip of land in central Gaza, has been rejected by Hamas as a deal breaker. It also prompted clashes with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who says a deal that frees the hostages should be the top priority.
Many Israelis accuse Netanyahu of obstructing a deal in order to stay in power and say that by not ending the war, he is putting the lives of the hostages in danger.
“Hamas was the one that pulled the trigger, but Netanyahu is the one who sentenced [the hostages] to death,” said an editorial Sunday in the Hebrew daily Haaretz.
Israel has seen weekly protests in solidarity with the hostages since the start of the war. But over time, as Israelis have tried to return to a semblance of normalcy or have been preoccupied by fears of a regional war with Iran or its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, the protests have dwindled in size.
But on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people poured into central Tel Aviv, banging drums and chanting “Deal, now!” while a general strike on Monday drew crowds out to the streets around the country.
However, Hazan, the political scientist, said that without large sustained protests across a broader swath of society, it’s hard to see how Netanyahu will feel enough pressure to change his approach. And so long as his government is stable, he may stick to his demands in the negotiations to appease the far-right flank of his coalition and ignore the protests entirely.
Still, relatives of the six hostages found murdered in Gaza expressed hope that the protests marked a turning point in the war that might force progress on a deal.
In a eulogy for Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American who became one of the most high-profile hostages, his father spoke of the emotional resonance the deaths might have.
“For 330 days, Mama and I sought the proverbial stone that we could turn over to save you,” Jon Polin said. “Maybe, just maybe, your death is the stone, the fuel, that will bring home the remaining” hostages.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
