Netanyahu’s Hostage Conditions Are Part of a Larger Bow to the Extreme Right

The announcement on September 1, 2024 that the Israeli army had recovered the bodies of six hostages including the American Israeli Hersh Goldberg Polin, whose parents only a few weeks ago captured the hearts of many Americans with their impassioned plea at the Democratic convention in Chicago for the return of their son, caused an eruption of protest in the streets of Israel leading to a general strike. While the murders were a painful reminder of the depth of Hamas’ barbarism, the protests were not directed at Hamas–though, of course, that  would have been justified– but at Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government. The immediate trigger may well have been Prime Minister Netanyahu televised broadcast that evening where, rather than expressing remorse for having failed to achieve a hostage deal in time, he argued that these murders “proved” no hostage deal was possible. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-hostages-hersh-netanyahu-29496f50a9b1740bd3905035ffd23052

But this broadcast was actually only the final straw. Just one day prior, on August 31, 2024, Netanyahu’s Cabinet voted, over the objection of Israel’s own Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is responsible for defending Israel and prosecuting the war, that no hostage deal could be achieved unless Israel maintained control of what is known as the Philadelphi Corridor bordering Egypt and Gaza–a sticking point to the negotiation. This vote was startling for two reasons. It openly pitted Israel’s defense establishment–which included not only Gallant but also IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, David Barnea, head of the Mossad and other former generals –against politically appointed ministers, but it also reinforced as a line in the sand a condition that Netanyahu only introduced in July 2024 which had not been part of the hostage deals Netanyahu had previously proposed including as recently as May 2024.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-cease-fire-talks.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare:

Following the announcement of the murders of the hostages Gallant redoubled his criticism of the Cabinet’s August 31,2024 vote describing the insistence on the Philadelphi corridor condition as imposing an “unnecessary constraint ” that ensured Israel would not  “not live up to the war goals” and was, flatly, a “moral disgrace”.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallant-said-to-call-philadelphi-demand-a-disgrace-drawing-fury-from-pm-ministers/

Added to Gallant’s searing criticism came the voices of two of Israel’s most respected former generals, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot, who had been part of the Israel’s War Cabinet from October 2023 through June of 2024 and thus was well aware of the military landscape. They also emphatically stated that the Philadelphi corridor should not stand as an impediment to any hostage deal since that corridor could always be retaken while the time for getting the hostages back was quickly evaporating. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gantz-eisenkot-to-deliver-truth-on-philadelphi-corridor-in-reply-to-netanyahu/

But while the conflict between Israel’s military establishment and Netanyahu’s political appointees reached a boiling point after the hostage murders were announced on September 1, 2024 and in the days thereafter, it had actually been brewing for months.  Gantz and Eizenkot, who were leaders of an opposition party, the National Unity Party, who had put aside their political differences after October 7, 2023 to assist in responding to Hamas’ slaughter and invasion on October 7, 2023.  However, by June 2024 they felt compelled to resign, with Gadi Eizenkot openly stating that after Netanyahu tanked yet another hostage proposal the war cabinet had approved in April 2024 because of pressure from his right-wing Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, it became clear to both Gantz and Eizenkot that Netanyahu had prioritized “political” considerations over military ones.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/eisenkot-accuses-pm-of-delaying-rafah-offensive-by-3-months-due-to-political-interests/

The influence of the ultra-nationalist Smotrich, who was arrested in 2005 for plotting to blow up Ayalon square in opposition to withdrawal from Gaza https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-shin-bet-deputy-chief-said-to-call-hardline-mk-smotrich-a-terrorist/ and Itamar Ben Gvir, Netanyahu’s Security Minister, who was previously convicted him of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization https://www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-rejects-petition-to-disqualify-far-right-ben-gvir-as-a-minister/ only became more determinative in the  months after Eizenkot and Gantz resigned. These two ministers are co-leaders of extreme right wing Otzma Yehudit Party who control 14 of the 64 seats Netanyahu needs to remain in power. Since October 7, 2024 they have staunchly opposed any hostage deal because they are determined for Israel to retain complete control over Gaza in order to reestablish Jewish settlements there and, ideally, “re-emigrate” the  2.5 million Palestinians that live there. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-minister-calls-voluntary-emigration-gazans-2023-11-14/

Thus, on May 31,  2024 when President Biden revealed the terms of a three part hostage deal Israel had already agreed to https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-gaza-israel-plan-end-war-cease-fire-hostages-rcna154945 , Smotrich and Ben Gvir immediately threatened to leave the government and disband the coalition which would have compelled Netanyahu’s departure from government.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-01/ty-article/.premium/ben-gvir-smotrich-reject-u-s-hostage-proposal-threaten-to-quit-netanyahu-coalition/0000018f-d552-d5bc-a1bf-df7225960000

Recently revealed documentation indicates that it was after these threats that Netanyahu inserted five new conditions for a hostage deal that were not included in the May 2024 terms, including the condition that Israel maintain control over the  Philadelphi corridor. https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-israeli-hostage-release-ceasefire-proposal-submitted-on-may-27/

Israel’s principal negotiator, David Barnea, the head of the Mossad, informed Netanyahu in no uncertain terms that these conditions would likely foil any future hostage agreement. In a tense Cabinet meeting held on July 16, 2024–right before Netanyahu left to speak before the U.S. Congress on July 24, 2024 where he touted his tireless efforts to reach a hostage agreement–not only did Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Defense Minister, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and David Barnea, head of the Mossad, urge Netanyahu to not insist on these new conditions, but other ministers made a similar argument imploring him not to bow to the threats of Ben Gvir and Smotrich. The religious Shas Party wrote to Netanyahu to “not fear” voices in opposition and act to fulfill the commandment of the “highest order”– redeeming captives. The Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel told Netanyahu directly “This deal is the ‘Netanyahu deal and under your name, and you need to move forward with it all the way and not be concerned with various coalition threats from Ben Gvir and Smotrich”. https://www.timesofisrael.com/urging-deal-mossad-boss-said-to-warn-time-running-out-for-young-female-hostages/

These pleas fell on deaf ears and Netanyahu stood firm on his new conditions––falsely claiming publicly that he had not changed any of the terms of the earlier dea– and, as predicted, Hamas rejected the hostage deal in August 2024.

Netanyahu’s bowing to the threats of Ben Gvir and Smotrich has not only caused a chasm with the security and military establishment at a time of war, but has also severely frayed relations with Israel’s strong ally–the United States–who has worked for months to achieve a hostage deal. By August 2024, Biden furiously exhorted Netanyahu to “stop bullshitting ” him when Netanyahu claimed he was engaged in efforts to achieve a resolution for release of the hostages. https://www.timesofisrael.com/stop-bullshitting-me-biden-said-to-scold-netanyahu-in-call-on-truce-hostage-deal/

Yet, Netanyahu’s adding on new conditions to frustrate a hostage deal while perhaps the most tragic, is actually only one example of capitulations to Ben Gvir and Smotrich since October 7, 2023. Another is allowing Smotrich and Ben Gvir to advance their ultimate goal of annexing the West Bank–which includes both expanding Jewish settlements and allowing political as opposed to military governance over this territory in violation of international law. So, for example, in June 2024 Israel recognized five illegal settlements that had been built illegally on the West Bank engendering condemnation from the U.S. the European Union and several Arab states.https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/30/middleeast/israel-west-bank-settlements-international-condemnation-intl/index.html  Then in July 2024, Smotrich not only announced  the construction of  5000 new Jewish settlement homes on the West Bank in violation of international law (and U.S. policy), but also the transfer of critical aspect of control of the West Bank from Israel’s defense (known as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories or COGAT)) to Smotrich, a political appointee. This transfer of power was no small matter. It for the first time upset the fundamental framework under international law that requires  occupied lands  be controlled by the military to ensure that the occupation is  temporary.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-handed-sweeping-powers-over-west-bank-control-over-settlement-planning/ This shift of control marked a significant step toward formal annexation

https://israelpolicyforum.org/2024/07/11/the-status-of-de-jure-west-bank-annexation/ further enraging Israel’s defenders and allies.

By ceding control over the Police to Ben Gvir and over “civilian activities” on the West Bank to Smotrich, Netanyahu has also heightened settler violence—unsanctioned by the IDF– on the West Bank because they have both armed settlers and then turned a blind eye when they commit violence. So on October 23, 2023 Ben Gvir disseminated 5000 assault rifles to right wing groups in the guise of creating civilian security teams.https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-says-10000-assault-rifles-purchased-for-civilian-security-teams/ Seeing the potential for civilian attacks the U.S. immediately condemned this action and threatened to withhold these kinds of weapons in the future.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-10-28/ty-article/.premium/u-s-threatens-to-stop-supplying-guns-after-ben-gvir-gives-them-out-at-political-events/0000018b-77eb-d1da-a1bb-7ffb96dc0000

Soon after the arming  the settlers, not surprisingly, settler violence dramatically increased. For example, in December 2023 an attack by settlers from a nearby outpost caused 200 Palestinians to flee their village of Kirbat Zanuta allowing the settlers to destroy the entirety of the village including homes and the school.   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67617920 In July 2024  Israeli settlers torched fields belonging to Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Burin.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/settlers-said-to-torch-palestinian-fields-in-west-bank-as-icj-rules-on-israeli-control-of-territories  Then in August  2024 over 100 settlers engaged in a violent rampage in the West Bank town of Jit torching a home and leaving a twenty year old Palestinian dead and another Palestinian critically wounded.https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-killed-as-settlers-torch-homes-and-cars-in-west-bank-village/ With Ben Gvir and Smotrich in control, few if any of these settlers have or are likely to brought to justice  How Extremist Settlers Took Over Israel – The New York Times though their conduct has led to widespread condemnation and  threats of sanctions by allies.

There can be no confusion as to the heinous nature of Hamas–its act of murder and rape and taking of hostages on October 7, 2023 and its continuing to hold and murder hostages to this day. At the same time however, there is a basis for the outrage among Israelis, including many of its most respected generals–who have followed Netanyahu’s actions since October 7 and have seen that time and again he has capitulated to Ben Gvir and Smotrich further isolating Israel from its allies and most tragically, preventing a deal that might have potentially led to a cease fire and the return of the hostages.