Members of Israel’s Negotiating Team Say Netanyahu Is Purposely Sabotaging Deal

Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that he won't give up the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border

Members of Israel’s negotiating team believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is purposely trying to sabotage the chances of a deal with Hamas, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Tuesday.

A source speaking to Kan referred to Netanyahu saying on Tuesday that he would not give up Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, or the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.

“Netanyahu’s statement is intended to blow up the negotiations, there’s no other way about it. The prime minister knows that we are in a critical period during which we’re working on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim ahead of the next summit,” the source told Kan.

“He knows there is progress — and then he puts out statements that are the opposite of what was agreed upon with the mediators,” the source added.

A US official traveling with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu’s comments about the Philadelphi Corridor were hurting the negotiations. “Maximalist statements like this are not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line,” the official said.

Blinken has not publicly criticized Netanyahu and is instead saying it’s up to Hamas to agree to a deal. “In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel supports the bridging proposal,” he said on Monday, referring to a US proposal that includes demands from Netanyahu and doesn’t include a permanent ceasefire. “The next important step is for Hamas to say ‘yes.'”

Israeli officials told Axios that Netanyahu only agreed to the US proposal because he knew Hamas would reject it. Hamas is calling for the ceasefire proposal presented by President Biden in May to be implemented.

Hamas said on Tuesday that the new proposal was a “reversal” of the previous US-backed plan and showed an “American submission to the terrorist Netanyahu’s new conditions and his criminal plans towards the Gaza Strip.”

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.