There’s significant dismay in Tel Aviv over President Joe Biden’s speech and his presentation of the new “Israeli” proposal for a prisoner exchange and ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli media described it as a “weak speech,” while other sources were “appalled” by the revelation of details of the proposal, which is still under preliminary talks.
On Friday, Biden announced in a White House press conference that Israel had presented a proposal in three stages, including a ceasefire in Gaza, releasing detainees, and rebuilding the region.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that the speech was met with dissatisfaction in Tel Aviv, considering it weak and ignoring Hamas’s rejection.
The newspaper also pointed out a striking contradiction during Biden’s speech, as he urged Tel Aviv, even pleaded with them, to accept this offer despite declaring it originally Israeli.
Meanwhile, Channel 12 in Israel labeled it a “war-ending speech,” stating that Biden outlined real parameters for ending the conflict, not just agreeing on a ceasefire and releasing captives.
On the other hand, Maariv described the speech as “Biden’s political bombshell,” as he announced the broad outlines of the Israeli proposal recently presented to mediators.
According to Yedioth, Biden exposed the “deception of Tel Aviv” by agreeing in the new proposal to a ceasefire without clearly announcing it. Channel 13 also confirmed this, stating that Israel was surprised by the details presented by Biden, as censorship prevented the publication of the proposal approved by the War Council and presented to mediators.
Channel 12 noted that Biden directly addressed the Israeli public in a “dramatic” speech, attempting to directly influence them, bypassing Netanyahu and right-wing ministers who seek to thwart the negotiations.
Biden explicitly criticized the term repeated by ministers in the government and Netanyahu personally, saying, “We must not miss the opportunity to continue the war in pursuit of an undefined concept, which is total victory.”
In his speech, Biden swiftly moved at 200 km/h against the extremists in Netanyahu’s government (as described by Yedioth Ahronoth), who, according to him, want “the war to continue indefinitely” and to “occupy Gaza.”
Channel 12 stated that the American President “recognizes that there are political elements in the government blackmailing Netanyahu and controlling him, and warns us against surrendering to these dangerous elements,” referring to “Bennett” and “Smotrich.”
The channel also discussed the timing, suggesting it was not coincidental. They believed choosing the time to coincide with the Sabbath, when Jews refrain from commenting immediately, was deliberate, adding pressure on Smotrich and Bennett not to quickly respond to the speech.
Additionally, the speech coincided with the threat announced by Benny Gantz to withdraw from the War Council, a new pressure on Netanyahu to accept Gantz’s conditions in the discussion on the day following the war on Gaza, according to the channel.
The New Proposal
On Friday, Biden announced at a White House press conference a new Israeli proposal in three stages. The first stage would last six weeks and include a “comprehensive ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from all inhabited areas in Gaza.”
The first stage also includes “releasing a number of hostages, including women, elderly, and wounded, in exchange for releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners” in Israeli jails.
Biden noted that the second stage includes “releasing the remaining hostages and soldiers and maintaining the ceasefire,” while the third stage focuses on post-war reconstruction of Gaza.
Biden’s discussion of this proposal comes despite Israel’s earlier rejection of another proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar, which Hamas and Palestinian factions announced their agreement to on May 6th.
The Egyptian-Qatari proposal included similar provisions to what Biden discussed, but Israel rejected it then, claiming it “did not meet its demands,” and insisting on continuing the war on Gaza until achieving what it terms “overwhelming victory.”
On the same day, Israel began a military operation in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, seizing control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing the following day.
Tel Aviv has also recently cast doubt on the “neutrality” of Egyptian and Qatari mediators in these talks, prompting Qatar to urge ignoring it, while Egypt warned that questioning its mediation “might lead it to withdraw.”
Through the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, Hamas and Israel have been engaged in months of stalled indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on a prisoner exchange and cessation of the war on Gaza, which erupted on October 7th, 2023.
Over two days, Cairo hosted the latest round of negotiations before Hamas and Israeli delegations left the Egyptian capital on May 9th without announcing an agreement.
The Israeli war on Gaza has left over 118,000 Palestinians dead or injured, mostly children and women, with around 10,000 missing amid immense destruction and famine claiming the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues this war, ignoring a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities, and orders from the International Court of Justice to cease its attack on Rafah and take immediate measures to prevent “genocidal acts” and “improve the humanitarian situation” in Gaza.
