Few stood and cheered as he spoke about his “vision” for the future of the Palestinian territories.
For many Democrats who have criticized Netanyahu, the Israeli leader confirmed what they already knew.
“Truly, [he] doubled down,” said Rep. Jason Crowe (D-Colo.), who watched Wednesday’s speech from the back of the House chamber. He said it was “absurd … to think that doing more of the same thing will produce a different result”.
Nearly 10 months into Israel’s Gaza offensive, with the Biden administration deeply frustrated and isolated on the world stage, Netanyahu has made no sign of compromise. There was no talk of Palestinian autonomy. The Palestinians’ right to life and liberty was not discussed. There was no attempt to address the grievances that fueled decades of Palestinian anger at Israel.
Instead, he spoke of a “militarized and degraded” Gaza; A Gaza under Israeli control “for the foreseeable future.”
“Now is the time for Israel’s leader to formulate a vision for the future,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), one of more than 50 Democrats, thought as he watched the speech on a television in his office. Legislators who ignored the address. But “he didn’t. He didn’t provide a road map. He didn’t change a bit,” Welch said.
The Biden administration has spent months trying to negotiate an ambitious, three-phase peace deal to end Israel’s war in Gaza, with the White House insisting the negotiating parties were “closer to an agreement than we’ve ever been” amid Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. Short-term ceasefire and early hostage release. The next step, according to Biden, involves negotiating a permanent end to the fighting and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza, along with the release of all remaining hostages.
This is the third phase of the plan, which will culminate in a new Palestinian regime, security, reconstruction and a path to statehood. A most essential ingredient for the success of any long-term peace, experts say.
But if the concept of a Palestinian future was not on Netanyahu’s mind before the war that began with a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel in October, his comments in recent days leave little reason to believe that anything has changed in his thinking.
“He didn’t talk about a long-term plan for the Palestinians because Netanyahu effectively renounced a Palestinian state,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. . “I am Consider that his plan has been without a viable plan for some time.
Liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill, so frustrated by Israel’s behavior during the war, are beginning to admit that the Israeli government has largely preempted the second phase of the peace plan.
Satellite images, witness testimony and comments from military commanders have shown for months that preparations for a long-term Israeli presence in Gaza have been underway. In recent months, Israel has fortified a strategic corridor, known as the Netzarim Corridor, that carves Gaza in two and allows rapid deployment of Israeli troops across the territory.
Israeli forces have bulldozed homes and acres of farmland to create and expand buffer zones along their strategic corridor and Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt. Israeli commanders spoke of a plan for “full freedom of movement” for their forces. They have turned the earth and ruins into defensive areas. They have also started building military bases and converting captured buildings for other military purposes.
Even as Biden administration officials insisted this week that they were close to securing a deal between Israel and Hamas, officials also quietly acknowledged that Netanyahu continues to put demands on the table.
After meeting with the prime minister on Thursday, Vice President Harris, who is poised to replace President Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket, urged the warring parties to “finish the deal” so negotiators can move on to the next parts of the peace plan. “We can get a ceasefire to end the war.”
Netanyahu’s National Defense Minister Itamar Ben Gir, who opposes the cease-fire agreement along with Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smodrich, has called for Jewish settlements to be built in Gaza, responding to Harris on social media. “There will be no fighting,” he declared.
Observers say Netanyahu’s political survival depends on both.
The split screen between the administration’s forward-looking hopes for a deal and the reality in Gaza has frustrated some Washington analysts.
In recent months, as the Israeli government has defied Biden in Gaza and Smodrich and far-right allies have accelerated Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, administration officials have indicated that Israel’s Arab neighbors want to play a role in Gaza. Future management and security. Some have suggested that a revitalized Palestinian Authority — a weak, corrupt and deeply unpopular governing apparatus in the West Bank — could even run Gaza.
“With an agreement, the rebuilding of Gaza will begin [with] Arab states and the international community, together with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, must do so in a way that does not allow Hamas to rearm,” Biden said in a May speech. He laid out his three-phase peace plan.
“This question of what comes next, what comes after this conflict, we have discussed extensively over the last four or five months with our Arab partners, with the Palestinians, with the Israeli government,” Barbara Leaf said. The assistant secretary of state for eastern affairs told lawmakers in June. Leaf acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority is “facing a dire situation”. Financial crisis” because Israel controls its revenue flow and has largely controlled it since October 7.
“The Arab world is horrified at what’s happening,” said Yusuf Munayer, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C., in a recent interview, casting doubt on the president’s line of argument. “They’re somehow going to flip a switch and think there’s going to be some kind of transformative deal — I don’t know what planet you’re watching this from.”
Reported from Lovelock Jerusalem.
