President Donald Trump said Saturday that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his Gaza peace deal was a chance for Israel’s “victory” in the war — adding, however, that “He has no choice.”
The remark underlined the favorable terms Israel received in Trump’s proposal to end the war — but also the pressure that the U.S. president has been able to exert on Netanyahu at key moments since taking office.
Axios reported (original emphasis):
“I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” Trump told me. “He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.”
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Trump told Axios in the interview that he was warned by his team ahead of the call that Netanyahu had reservations. But Trump said that when they spoke, Netanyahu agreed to move forward.
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“We had great receptivity for our plan — every country of the world in favor. Bibi is in favor. Hamas went a long way — they want to do it. Now we will need to close it,” Trump said.
The plan meets Israeli demands to release all of the remaining hostages; to remove Hamas from power, and for Hamas to disarm. In return, it calls for Israeli military withdrawals from much of Gaza and offers the prospect of a Palestinian state — provided the Palestinian Authority completes a process of sweeping reforms.
Hamas responded positively, though without agreeing to disarm completely — a point on which Israel appeared to compromise under pressure from Trump, as well as domestic pressure to accept an agreement.
Netanyahu appeared to take credit for the victory as reflected in the deal, telling Israelis in a speech on Saturday that the remaining hostages could start to come home in the coming days, during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The original October 7, 2023, terror attack came at the end of the Sukkot holiday.
Trump’s remark appeared to reflect the hopes of pro-Israel voters, who wanted him to help Netanyahu defeat Hamas and free the hostages; as well as Muslim voters, who wanted him to push Netanyahu to end the war.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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