Trump's Plan Confuses Israel: Netanyahu between the Hammer of Washington and the Anvil of Settlers

SadaNews Translation: In light of escalating political and security pressures, the head of the occupying government, Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing for a decisive meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, amidst a series of intensive meetings aimed at convincing Netanyahu to approve a U.S. plan consisting of 21 items, being promoted as a roadmap to end the war in Gaza, recover prisoners, and outline the features of the next phase.

According to the Hebrew newspaper "Maariv," as translated by SadaNews, Netanyahu held a lengthy meeting last night in New York with Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Whitcomb, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, which lasted about two hours, in an attempt to bridge the remaining gaps in the U.S. plan. Although the details of the plan remain unclear and have not been presented to Hamas, leaks indicate that Netanyahu is close to giving it the green light, opening the door to a new phase of regional and international arrangements.

Notably, the meeting was followed by another gathering that included Netanyahu and the heads of the "Yesha" settlement council, who hurriedly arrived in New York to exert counter-pressure, demanding a rejection of any talk about a Palestinian state and the application of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank. However, Trump's recent statements, in which he confirmed that sovereignty would not be imposed and that the establishment of a Palestinian state is one of the fundamental pillars of the plan, have raised widespread concern among settlers.

Despite Netanyahu's pledge to the "Yesha" leaders to convey their position to Trump, the lack of a clear timeline for implementing sovereignty has raised doubts about the seriousness of his commitment, especially amid increasing American and Arab pressures, leading to the end of their meeting with Netanyahu in a state of tension, according to the Hebrew newspaper.

Netanyahu is scheduled to leave New York for Washington today at 3:30 PM Palestine time, to hold his anticipated meeting with Trump at 6:00 PM, followed by a joint press conference at 8:15 PM, which is expected to carry decisive indicators regarding the fate of the plan.

Hebrew sources indicate that one of the items in the plan stipulates the possibility of implementing parts of it even without Hamas's approval, including the formation of a transitional technocratic Palestinian government, and the deployment of an international force in areas vacated by the resistance in Gaza. However, without the release of prisoners held by the resistance, Israel will not halt its extensive military operations in the sector.

It is noteworthy that Trump presented the plan to several Arab leaders during a meeting held at the United Nations headquarters last week, amidst reports of modifications being made in response to Netanyahu's demands, which could ignite disputes among the parties involved. Nevertheless, Jordan's King Abdullah confirmed that the outlines of the plan "are consistent with what has been agreed upon," referring to prior Arab-American understandings.