NewDelhi: The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a tough situation as he tries to address the aftermath of the recently announced truce with Hamas. The agreement is due to come into force on Sunday and has been met with much resistance within Netanyahu’s own coalition government.
The truce agreed to in Doha, Qatar, could signal the end of the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas. But Netanyahu has chosen to go ahead with the agreement, which has made him unpopular with some of his cabinet members who consider the terms to be a threat to national security.
Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has given an ultimatum, saying that he will quit if Netanyahu goes ahead with the ceasefire and hostage release deal. Likewise, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to resign if the deal prevents Israel from keeping its forces in Gaza.
Religious Zionist Party head Smotrich slammed the accords, saying, “The government is about to approve something bad and dangerous for Israel’s national security.” He stressed that his party would not keep mum, the “blood of our brethren calling for vengeance.”
The first stage of the deal is to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for kidnapped Israelis, some of whom are prisoners serving life terms for terror attacks. This has especially raised concern among far-right leaders who see it as a big threat to security.
Netanyahu, who met Smotrich on Wednesday to discuss the deal, now has the difficult role of mediating between the international calls for peace and domestic politics. The Prime Minister is now left to sell the agreement to his more hawkish coalition partners as something that is good for Israel while not threatening its security.
As the Sunday implementation date draws near, everyone is watching Netanyahu to see how he will steer his government through this political storm and whether this government will hold together under the pressure emanating from both within and without.