In a Sunday interview with Israel’s conservative Channel 14, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will not accept a ceasefire deal that ends the war in Gaza, dashing the possibility that Biden’s ceasefire proposal would be accepted.
The Israeli prime minister, however, still said that he would still be interested in a “partial deal” for the release of hostages, while still allowing fighting to continue. Netanyahu also announced that the “intense phase” of the current Gaza conflict will end soon.
The announcement comes at a ticklish political moment in Israeli politics. Netanyahu has received criticism after an Israeli defense official alleged that Netanyahu would only agree to such a deal if it polls well. Netanyahu is also facing pressure from sources unrelated to the Gaza war. Today, an inquiry conducted by a state commission into the “submarine affair” released a scathing statement alleging that Netanyahu acted without the necessary staff work or oversight in making significant defense decisions. An earlier Netanyahu government had acquired several submarines from the German company ThyssenKrupp without going through the normal consultation processes with the Israeli defense establishment. The defense establishment considered the subs to be unnecessary for Israeli security, and their acquisition was mired with allegations of bribery. For his part, Netanyahu has stated that they were part of a necessary deterrent against Iran.
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