Despite the regional optimism following U.S. President Joe Biden's recent announcement of a plan to end the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisor had a different perspective. Ofer Falk revealed that Biden's speech did not present anything new; rather, it was merely a "political speech" driven by unclear reasons. In statements to the Sunday Times, he stated that Tel Aviv "did not reject the outlines proposed by the U.S. president in his speech because it is a plan that has been previously approved," but noted that there are many details that need to be worked on, including "not establishing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza until all of the Israeli government's objectives are met," referring to the elimination of Hamas, a sentiment echoed by Netanyahu's office in its previous statement regarding Biden's plan.
Biden's proposal on Friday to end the war in Gaza had a significant impact in Israel. While some, including far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, opposed it and threatened to topple the government, experts and commentators saw it as the last opportunity to put an end to the war. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office rushed to assert that the war would not end until all its objectives are achieved. Hamas, on the other hand, stated in a release that it views the U.S. president's plan positively but awaits clarifications from mediators. Israeli officials have confirmed that the biggest obstacle to reaching an agreement so far is how to formulate a commitment from Israel to cease fighting in Gaza while simultaneously maintaining its goals of recovering prisoners and overthrowing Hamas's rule, according to information reported by Israeli broadcasting on Saturday.
