Netanyahu's inconsequential visit to Washington

Arab News

14 hours ago

https://arab.news/5ckxj
It might have been naive to believe that the meeting in Washington this week between America's President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was going to lead to an announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. After all, there have already been many false dawns.
But having observed the terrible humanitarian tragedy that has unfolded in the territory over the past 21 months, who can blame any decent human being for hoping and praying for this nightmare to finally come to an end?
It is for those who create the obstacles, or who are not using the full weight of their influence to stop this human suffering, to answer the question of what is preventing them from ending a war that no one is winning, and which is only causing immense hurt while harming the prospect of any future peace between the two peoples.
Netanyahu arrived in the US in a very different state of mind compared with his previous visits since the war started. He was much more confident. He is now convinced that Israel's show of force in Iran, with Tehran's proxies considerably weakened, and his success in pulling in the US to participate in an attack on Iran's nuclear installations, have considerably elevated his status in Washington.
Astonishingly, he also managed to drag Trump into an interfering role in the legal proceedings against him. The US president described Netanyahu's corruption trial a witch-hunt, which it most definitely is not, and even threatened to halt American aid to Israel if it was not brought to an immediate halt.
The Israeli prime minister's visit to Washington was part of his attempts to secure his political survival and revival. Trump seemed to play his part, and even took part in a piece of grotesque theater in which Netanyahu presented him with a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump, who previously pledged he would be 'very firm' with Netanyahu about ending the war in Gaza, on this occasion, and for no apparent reason, completely refrained from putting any pressure at all on the Israeli leader.
While the immediate hopes for a ceasefire agreement were dashed, Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams were still engaged in proximity talks in Doha in an effort to resolve their differences, and Trump expressed cautious optimism when he declared that the negotiations to end the war in Gaza had been 'going along very well.'
Israeli sources told journalists that 90 percent of outstanding issues have been resolved but the negotiations require more time. While the ability to reach an agreement on most issues is always a positive development, it ultimately means very little because in negotiations of this nature nothing is agreed until everything is agreed — and what remains unsettled includes those issues that are crucial to both sides, including an
Israeli agreement to end the war, whether Israel will maintain a presence in the Gaza Strip, and whether the leadership of Hamas will be exiled.
These sticking points will determine whether or not a ceasefire deal can be reached. Meanwhile, time is running out for the people of Gaza, and very quickly.
Netanyahu's trip to Washington reflected his determination to remain in power, and possibly to avoid justice by derailing his corruption trial.
Yossi Mekelberg
What should obviously worry Gazans, and also those who believe in human rights and the rule of law, is that they have suffered immensely, even before the war began and immeasurably since. They have for months also been subjected to speculation about their possible removal from Gaza altogether. Other reports warn of the prospect of hundreds of thousands of them being pushed into the south of the territory.
The very fact that the 'option' of a so-called 'voluntary migration' was even discussed with Netanyahu and his delegation in Washington is disturbing. The euphemisms of a 'humanitarian city' and 'voluntary migration' serve to sedate and deceive decent people around the world, or ease their consciences, when what is actually being suggested are most probably acts tantamount to horrendous war crimes on a huge scale.
When Netanyahu says in Washington, 'If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,' he is being disingenuous. Nearly two years of war have rendered Gaza almost uninhabitable, and instead of suggesting it be rebuilt, Israel's prime minister, with the support of the US, is saying that its residents might be better off going somewhere else.
One cannot imagine a lower level of shamelessness to which this Israeli government might sink. When the war began this displacement was not one of Israel's objectives; it emerged as Israeli forces occupied most of the Gaza Strip, and then the extreme right wing in the country received a boost from Trump's misguided and tactless idea about rebuilding the territory as a 'Gaza riviera' — but not for the Palestinians.
The timing of this Trump-Netanyahu summit, following the 12-day war against Iran last month, gave it a different flavor than previous meetings, as both leaders see themselves, not without reason, as victorious.
The true extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program is still unknown but one thing is not in question: Israel's initial military success, which gave its air force total freedom to operate in Iran, created the opportunity for Netanyahu to tempt Trump into getting involved to help, allegedly, finish the job using the kind of weaponry only the US possesses.
On the one hand there is a sense in Washington that Netanyahu owes the American president for this assistance and should pay him back by showing more flexibility on the Palestinian issue.
However, although Trump is not the type of person who ever believes he owes anyone anything, what Israel did in Iran actually gave him the chance to demonstrate determination and conviction as the US commander-in-chief and, within 24 hours, also to assert his authority by dictating to Israel that the war was over, to actually conclude it, and to suggest that decisions about the future of Iran's nuclear program should now move to the diplomatic sphere — thus becoming a peacemaker.
Nevertheless, Trump has in mind a larger agenda: the expansion of the Abraham Accords to other countries within the region and beyond. But by now there is a recognition within his administration that this is not feasible without progress, firstly toward the end of war in Gaza and the reconstruction of the territory, and then to establish a genuine peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians that can lead to a two-state solution. Netanyahu and his government remain a major obstacle to this, albeit not the only one. The question now is what Trump will do.
What is quickly becoming clear is that from Netanyahu's perspective the visit to Washington was part of the unofficial launch of his reelection campaign. The cracks in his coalition are growing but the war with Iran has enhanced his position in opinion polls. His trip to Washington reflected his determination to remain in power, and possibly to avoid justice by derailing his corruption trial.
Trump and Netanyahu are not exactly soulmates but they do understand how they can serve each other's interests and personal ambitions. Sadly this will not necessarily help bring an end to the war in Gaza or restore regional stability.