Trump can bask in some glory after cutting through Israel’s delaying tacticspublished at 07:08 Greenwich Mean Time
Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, reporting from Jerusalem
Israel’s nationalist right was delighted when Trump won a landslide victory in the US presidential election in 2024
Donald Trump has made an impact on the Middle East even before he sits down in the Oval Office to start his second term as president.
He cut through the delaying tactics Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in alliance with his ultranationalist coalition partners, had used to avoid accepting the ceasefire deal Joe Biden put on the table last May.
US pressure on Hamas and other Palestinian groups is a given. Under Biden, pressure on Israel was the lever that was never pulled. Trump starts his second term claiming credit, with reasonable justification, for getting the ceasefire deal in Gaza over the line. He can bask in some glory.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, is dealing with a coalition crisis. The entire principle of doing a deal with Hamas is repugnant to the ultranationalist politicians who have supported his government. One of them, the national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says his party, Jewish Power will only support the government if it resumes the war, cuts off all aid to Gaza and destroys Hamas. If that does not happen he will resign.
That will be of no importance to Donald Trump. The push for a Gaza ceasefire demonstrated that Trump would put the interests of his presidency before the political requirements of Israel’s prime minister.