Under pressure from his own gov’t, Netanyahu looks to enlist Trump to change 2nd phase of hostage deal

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

In a bid to make the agreement’s second phase more palatable to Netanyahu’s right-wing allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to enlist the Trump administration’s assistance in altering the hostage deal, Israeli media reported Sunday morning.

Netanyahu departed for Washington, D.C. on Sunday morning, ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump, slated for Tuesday.

The meeting will be the first between the two leaders since Trump took office last month.

On Monday, the Israeli delegation will begin talks with the Trump administration for implementing the second stage of the three-stage ceasefire deal signed just days before former president Joe Biden left office.

Shortly before Netanyahu’s departure, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionist Party, issued a video statement on Sunday calling on Netanyahu to use his meeting with the American president to promote plans to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, take military action against Iran’s nuclear program, and resume the fighting against Hamas.

“A great deal is at stake – the complete victory in Gaza, the destruction of Hamas, and the return of all our hostages, strengthening our security on all borders – in Syria, Lebanon, and of course against the head of the octopus, the Iranian regime and the nuclear threat. This danger must be removed,” Smotrich said.

“We must strengthen our grip and sovereignty over the homeland in Judea and Samaria. We have such a small land – so, first, we must turn away from evil: we must not take Gaza and multiply the threat against us twentyfold right in the heart of our land. We must strengthen our hold and apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”

Smotrich, who had threatened to bolt from the government prior to the signing of the hostage deal, remained in the coalition while voting against the ceasefire.

Continued pressure from Smotrich on Netanyahu to end the ceasefire after the six-week initial phase of the agreement has led to concern within the government that should Israel continue the truce beyond the first phase and end the war as demanded by Hamas, the finance minister may leave the coalition, leaving it short of a majority.

While opposition parties have offered to ensure the government survives long enough to implement the entire hostage deal, Netanyahu has sought to retain Smotrich’s support with vows to resume the war at some later date.

According to a report by Walla Sunday morning, Netanyahu is hoping to secure sufficient changes to the deal to keep his government together – in part by enabling Israel to resume fighting against Hamas and avoid a permanent end to the war.

The report claims that Netanyahu is hoping to alter the format for talks aimed at implementing the second phase of the ceasefire, including replacing brokered talks in Doha, Qatar, between the Israeli and Hamas delegations with shuttle diplomacy led by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

In addition, Israel is poised to replace Mossad chief David Barnea as chief negotiator with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a longtime confidant of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The change also reflects Netanyahu’s desire to link further implementation of the ceasefire deal with a normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh – a separate diplomatic effort Dermer has long been involved with.

Netanyahu is also reportedly hoping to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, or at the very least soften some of the terms of the second phase, including Israel’s withdrawal from the strategically critical Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border.

Most importantly, however, the Israeli premier is looking to secure American support for a resumption of the war, with the goal of completely dismantling Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip.