Video Infoblog: Is Netanyahu purposely sabotaging hostage negotiations to prolong the war in Gaza?
is Netanyahu purposely sabotaging hostage negotiations to prolong the war in Gaza he's repeatedly leaked information to the press and members of his negotiating team have said that since December definitely since January it's clear to everyone that we're not conducting negotiations polls show historically low levels of confidence in netanyahu's prime minister with support for his Leu party dwindling internal Coalition tensions over issues like military service exemptions for Ultra Orthodox Jews and criticism over the handling of security warnings prior to the October 7 attack also make it unlikely that he would be reelected so is Netanyahu prolonging the war in order to save his political career here's a timeline of Hostage negotiations and how they've been skittled by Netanyahu in November 2023 Hamas and Israel agreed to aary ceasefire and hostage exchange deal the agreement led to a swap where 80 Israeli hostages were released and 117 Palestinians who had been held in Israeli prisons were released fast forward to January Israel began preparing for new negotiations the negotiating team with the backing of the now disbanded War cabinet chose not to talk about any further exchanges publicly as they thought this sensitive issue could derail the talks but Netanyahu went against this and leaked details about this to the Press some members of the negotiating team accused him of encouraging public opposition to the deal on January 17 the war cabinet met to discuss the hostage deal and outlin what mad Chief David Baria was allowed to discuss at the upcoming Paris Summit and what he could agree to but after the meeting Netanyahu decided to take a tougher stance for Israel without alerting the cabinet members netanyahu's stalling negotiations meant the Paris Summit was delayed K's foreign Ministry accused him of obstructing and undermining the mediation process for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives on January 28th the head of Israel's mad met with mediators in Paris for the first time and they reported significant progress but when he returned to Israel Netanyahu issued five releases confirming otherwise at the benai David Preparatory program in the west bank settlement of Eli he says I hear talks about all kinds of deals so I want to clarify we won't withdraw the Israeli Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip and won't release thousands of terrorists at this point it's worth noting that Netanyahu is referring to Palestinians being held by Israel as terrorists in a blanket statement even though many of these captives are children the focus then shifted to agreeing on terms before the holy month of Ramadan but Netanyahu reduced the negoti team's power he said they can listen to and engage with mediators but can't agree to or suggest terms Hamas released the statement on February 6th to announce they treated the new framework positively but almost immediately Israel announces they have no intention of stopping the war netanyahu's personal adviser oir Fork who isn't part of the negotiating team attended the KIRO Summit and stops any more delegates attending talks this is completely different to what the shinb chief's plan was Netanyahu once again limits the parameters of negotiation and no deal is made it's now been 5 months since the Israeli hostages were taken qar is still encouraging negotiations and the members of the war cabinet and high ranking defense officials are urging Netanyahu to call a cabinet meeting to restart negotiations but Netanyahu doesn't listen nit San Alon is frustrated by netanyahu's actions and worries that an opportunity for a new deal could be missed in April Hamas and Israel are once again close to agreeing to a deal amid negotiations the Israeli Army announces it has completed its operations in Ken unun and has fully withdrawn its forces from the area but later that day Netanyahu released a statement TV programar released an interview with two senior members of the Israeli negotiating team who remain anonymous I can't say that without net yo there would be a deal I can say that the probability of a deal would be higher since December definitely since January it's clear to everyone that we're not conducting negotiations it happens again and again you get a mandate during the day then the Prime Minister makes phone calls at night instructs don't say that and I'm not approving this in a war cabinet meeting members decide what the lowest number of hostages exchanged would be acceptable they agreed to keep this top secret so that Hamas can't leverage this information but on the same day Netanyahu tells Minister B smotrich who isn't in the war cabinet the secret information smotrich alerts the media and publicly pressures Netanyahu saying agreeing to a deal is a humiliating surrender if you decide to raise a white flag the government new head will have no right to exist Netanyahu tells the media that he won't stop the war without achieving his goals the deal is proposed to Hamas and Israeli intelligence predicts that Hamas will agree but during a war cabinet meeting on May the 2nd Netanyahu suggested ordering the IDF to immediately enter Rafa all other meeting participants opposed this idea arguing it would instantly ruin the deal Netanyahu makes an announcement on behalf of a senior diplomatic official Israel will under no circumstances agree to the end of the war as part of a deal involving the release of hostages the statement added the IDF will enter Rafa and destroy the Hamas battalions remaining there whether there is a temporary choose for releasing the hostages or not he also prohibits the Israel delegation from attending another round of talks in Cairo without alerting the war cabinet the day after Netanyahu called for a vote on a law to shut down cutter funded television network alzer's operation in Israel despite the cutter Le negotiations Israel submits a hostage release framework to mediators but the public are not given information President Biden then reveals information about that framework after a speech Netanyahu says Israel's conditions for ending the war have not changed and they include destroying the military and governing capabilities of Hamas there will be no ceasefire if these conditions are not met prime minister Netanyahu who attends a confidential session of the knesset's Foreign Affairs and defense committee following the meeting he once again angers members of the war cabinet stating to the public that his position in the confidential session was that he opposes ending the conflict under the framework proposed by President Biden and on June 17 he dissolved the Israeli War cabinet Netanyahu then gives an interview to the Patriots on Channel 14 he says Israel is ready for a deal that would return some hostages but is committed to continuing the war once again he potentially jeopardizes a deal that hinges on the mediator's promise that Netanyahu takes into consideration all stages of the proposed deal the Prime Minister then meets with family members of Israeli hostages in Washington he shares that the conditions for their return are ripening according to haret the family said they cannot wait any longer and that he must close the deal now Daniel Neutra whose brother is in Hamas captivity says that he met with Netanyahu and that the urgency of the matter did not seem to resonate with him Jonathan Deen whose son Sagi is a hostage said that any true friend of Israel must pressure our prime minister to secure a hostage release deal but given netanyahu's statements and spontaneous decisions it's likely the families of the hostages will continue
