Yedioth Ahronoth Reveals the Real Reasons Behind Netanyahu's Refusal to Participate in the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit

Translation by SadaNews - The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has revealed the real reasons behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cancellation of his participation in the peace summit in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh, despite receiving a late invitation from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, seemingly under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, as translated by SadaNews, the reason for not participating was not related to the holidays that Netanyahu has violated several times for his political interests, as the paper states, nor was it due to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's condition that Netanyahu must not participate. Instead, the true reasons were personal political ones for Netanyahu.

According to the newspaper, Netanyahu did not want his participation in the summit to force him into shaking hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of other countries, as this would dismantle his government coalition.

The newspaper quoted two informed sources, stating that Netanyahu felt anxious at the time about the disintegration of his government coalition when he learned that he would be forced to shake hands with Abbas and other regional leaders, leading him to confront far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Consequently, he feared losing control over his government partners, surpassing the "national" considerations and priorities for Israel.

Moreover, an Israeli security source mentioned that this is the same reason that has repeatedly prevented any exchange deals and has also stalled normalization with Saudi Arabia until now because Netanyahu has not been ready at any moment to pay the political price for any step in that direction.

The newspaper states that the moment Netanyahu would have shaken hands with Abbas in Sharm El-Sheikh, under the watchful eyes of Trump and the leaders of the Arab and Islamic world, would have compelled him to discuss the future of relations with the Palestinians. This was for some a dream, while for others a nightmare.

The newspaper quoted two intelligence sources from the Middle East, saying that Netanyahu was not invited from the outset due to el-Sisi's anger over the actions of the Israeli Prime Minister's office recently, which included issuing successive statements against Egypt, prompting Trump to intervene and push for his attendance before the false excuse of holidays emerged, as the newspaper suggests.