Ex-US Ambassador: Netanyahu In ‘Political Fight Of His Life’

Benjamin Netanyahu is in the “political fight of his life” right now, according to a former US ambassador.

The Israeli prime minister rejected Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan on Sunday, delivering a major blow to the US president.

Netanyahu said his country’s troops will not withdraw from the Palestinian region until Hamas has been “genuinely” disarmed.

His remarks come weeks after Trump’s Board of Peace announced its pathway to finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militants.

David Satterfield, the ex-US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, told BBC Radio 4 that Netanyahu had delayed his response to the proposals because he is stuck in a “dilemma” right now.

The American diplomat said the Israeli leader is torn between following domestic opinion and keeping the US president on side.

“He is in the political fight of his life. In many ways, it’s a personal fight as well, given the implications on the outcome of his court trial,” Satterfield told the Today programme.

A trial against Netanyahu began in 2020 over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing.

Israel is facing a general election this October, too, and Netanyahu is running once again.

Satterfield continued: “He doesn’t want to do anything – whether it’s Gaza, Lebanon, Syria – that has any impact on his nationalist base, his right-wing coalition.

“He’s not going to support any kind of forward-leaning plan on Gaza.

“On the other hand, he doesn’t want to offend Donald Trump.”

The US is Israel’s strongest ally and Netanyahu called the American president a “great friend” on Sunday.

However, Netanyahu has also faced criticism from within Israel for supposedly allowing Trump to dictate what the country does.

Satterfield, previously the US ambassador to Turkey, continued: “Donald Trump – should he ever come out openly in opposition to prime minister Netanyahu that is beyond comments the president has made in the past – that in itself would have a very very negative impact on the prime minister’s political chances.

“He’s caught between the two. It was that dilemma that produced his long delay [in responding to the peace plan].”

A senior diplomat who is hoping to implement Trump’s peace proposals, Nickolay Mladenov, responded by saying discussions were ongoing in the hope of a “positive outcome”.

Satterfield also claimed that the White House has informally acknowledged Netanyahu is in a political campaign right now and was therefore offering up “rhetoric”.

He suggested the Israeli leader had offered some concessions to Trump by cutting back on his recent attacks in the hope of “mitigating displeasure from the president” – while simultaneously staking out a position which will please his nationalist base.

“Israel has to take credible and real steps to show they’re serious about the withdrawal from the 60-70% of Gaza they now control,” Satterfield said.

“It’s going to be very hard for the Israeli side. It’s going to be very hard for Hamas to accept as well.”

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