Axios: An Israeli official says… We’re heading for a crisis instead of an agreement
An Israeli official said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants an agreement that is impossible to obtain, and that at the moment he isn’t ready to act, which may lead to a crisis in negotiations, instead of reaching an agreement.
The Israeli official added that Netanyahu has shown a hardline position on the ceasefire agreement, and added new demands, such as the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the movement of Palestinian weapons and militants from southern Gaza to the north, and maintaining Israeli control over the border between Gaza and Egypt.
The Israeli official explained that Netanyahu discussed his new demands with Biden on Thursday at the White House, and pledged to send an updated proposal within two days to US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators in order to hand it over to Hamas.
However, even after nearly 3 hours of talks, Biden and his advisers are unsure whether Netanyahu really wants to reach a deal, or is he playing on time to prevent his government from collapsing.
Israeli negotiators doubted that Biden’s pressure on Netanyahu persuaded him to compromise on some of his new strict demands in the updated Israeli proposal, although Biden expressed, at the meeting, the need to fill the remaining gaps, finalize the deal as soon as possible, return prisoners, and reach a lasting end to the war.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu announced that he would send a delegation to the talks in Rome on Gaza, saying he believes there is some progress in the talks due to military pressure.
This came after US and Israeli officials said that the director of US intelligence, William Burns, will meet in Rome, next Sunday, with Qatari Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Mossad director David Barnea, and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel.
A source familiar with the issue said that the meeting isn’t expected to include detailed negotiations on the remaining gaps, while the main focus will be on the strategy going forward, as Israeli negotiators don’t hope that the meeting in Rome will lead to some breakthrough.
