Lapid traps Netanyahu; Trump’s plan pressures cabinet.
During a tense session yesterday in the Knesset, opposition forces put a bill entitled “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza War” to a vote, and the Trump administration’s plan forms the basis of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip after two years of war. The bill was approved in a preliminary reading with 39 votes in favor and 0 against.
The vote was held in a situation where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most representatives of the ruling coalition boycotted the meeting in a coordinated manner; a move that, according to analysts, indicates the Israeli government’s explicit opposition to the political parts of the American plan, especially the clause related to the “viable path to the formation of a Palestinian state,” and at the same time reveals the depth of the gap between the Israeli right wing and the Trump administration.
The ruling coalition’s purposeful absence from the vote was a conscious decision. Many members of the right wing believe that the US plan – despite focusing on a ceasefire, the release of Israeli prisoners, and the establishment of a new security mechanism in Gaza – effectively leaves the door ajar for a return to the “two-state” model in the clauses related to the Palestinian political future.