American outrage over Netanyahu's agreement to a partial hostage deal led to a clarification

A speech in the Knesset in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night (Monday) that he is committed to the Israeli outline presented by Biden, for a hostage deal and a ceasefire, was the completion of a magnificent "zigzag" in less than 24 hours. Behind this clarification is American outrage over his statement that he would only agree to a "partial deal", which threatened to jeopardize the attempts to advance an agreement despite the impasse in the talks.
The same statement also caused great frustration among the families of the abductees, who, in an attempt to increase the pressure on the decision-makers, released a difficult-to-watch video last night - in which the abduction of Hirsch Goldberg Polin, Or Levy and Alya Cohen to Gaza is documented. The video also shows the kidnapping of Alon Ehal who was kidnapped alongside the three - but it is blurred at the request of his parents.
Netanyahu, we will recall, caused the storm yesterday in an interview with Channel 14 - his first interview since the outbreak of the war with an Israeli media outlet. Perhaps in an attempt to speak to "Bays", or simply because of an outburst, Netanyahu said in an interview that he was only committed to a "partial deal that would return some of the abductees" - and that he would not agree to the end of the war as part of it.
This statement may not constitute a dramatic change from Netanyahu's known positions, but until now Israel has been careful to maintain ambiguity in regards to the deal presented by Biden and which should in principle lead to the end of the war - when the main bone of contention is whether Israel will commit in advance to ending the war or whether the fifth phase will be implemented first. the "humanitarian" part of the deal and at the same time negotiations will be conducted on the second phase of ending the war - in a way that Israel will actually be able to resume fighting if these talks fail.
In doing so, sources in Israel said that the prime minister gave the terrorist organization "golden vision" that Israel does not intend to continue with phase B of the deal, and stop at phase A. The statement also shocked the Biden administration, and "freaked out" the White House officials, who over the past few months have been careful to blame Hamas for refusing the Israeli proposal.
In the last day, there were very sharp exchanges of messages between the Biden administration and the Prime Minister's office, and Netanyahu's people tried to reassure the Americans and claimed that there was no change in Israeli policy - and that the Prime Minister remained committed to the outline presented by Biden. However, the Americans claimed that what Netanyahu said harmed the pressure on Hamas - and demanded that Netanyahu speak up and say that he fully supports the outline.
Netanyahu made the amendment in a speech in the Knesset: "I promise you three things: the first thing - we will not end the war until we return all the abductees. 120 abductees - both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden welcomed. Our position has not changed; the second thing - Which does not contradict the first thing - we will not end the war until we eliminate Hamas and until we return the residents of the south and the north safely to their homes. And the third thing - at any cost and by any means, we will thwart Iran's intentions to destroy us."
Netanyahu's speech, in which the prime minister returned to his original position, managed to put out the fire. Senior officials in the negotiation team for the Hatfim deal later claimed: "This is the first time that the Prime Minister announces with his voice from the stage in the Knesset and says that he supports the Biden proposal. The Prime Minister thereby puts the ball back in Hamas' court and makes it clear that he is committed to the agreement. He made an important amendment that returns the ball to Hamas, and if We will get a positive answer and it will be possible to start a kidnapping deal."
This crisis, we should note, caught Defense Minister Yoav Galant on a critical visit to Washington. He met with the head of the CIA Bill Burns a few hours after Netanyahu's speech in the Knesset, with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and with Biden's emissary for the arrangement with Lebanon Amos Hochstein. In his conversations, Gallant also discussed the abductees deal, and how we can move forward. When asked about what Netanyahu said, he replied that he didn't have time to talk to him because of the "time difference".
Despite Netanyahu's clarification that he is committed to the Biden outline, the damage may have already been done. One of the main obstacles on the way to a deal is the same demand by Hamas to receive clear guarantees that Israel will not resume fighting at the end of the first phase of the deal, and Netanyahu actually revealed - perhaps by mistake - the Israeli "bluff" that Hamas feared. The terrorist organization, of course, jumped on these things, and also accused last night that he "doesn't want to close a deal". Hamas claims that Netanyahu's words prove that the prime minister does not accept the Biden outline and the Security Council decision that backed it.
Israel, we will recall, offered to negotiate the details of the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and the end of the war while exchanging prisoners in phase one of the deal, a phase that should include abductees from "humanitarian" categories (women, sick and wounded adults). In phase two, the kidnapped soldiers are supposed to be released And additional young men, for whom the main mass of terrorists will be released from Israeli prison - and then, in the third stage, the bodies of the kidnapped will be released.
As mentioned, Hamas demanded guarantees that Israel would indeed proceed to Phase B, which includes the cessation of the war - and sources privy to the details said the other day that Israel tried to maintain deliberate ambiguity, which would in fact allow the fighting to continue. But when Netanyahu spoke of only a partial deal, at the end of which the war would continue, he actually confirmed the concerns of Hamas, thereby actually jeopardizing the possibility that phase one would come to fruition.
The prime minister even went so far as to say that his position is "not a secret". Even before his words the other day, let's recall, some criticized him due to the fact that he repeatedly said that Israel would not be ready to end the war as part of the deal. But Netanyahu never talked about a "partial" deal, which actually means only phase one - as Hamas claimed Israel was planning.
Netanyahu, it seems, did not take into account that Hamas might in any case violate the agreement - in a way that would allow Israel to return to fighting.
Whether it was a statement made for the "Bays", or an outburst, his office realized that this was one step too many - and rushed to make the correction.
This impasse adds to the despair and frustration of the abductees' families. In another attempt to increase the pressure on the decision-makers, and to bring the public discourse back to the issue - in the background of an increasing preoccupation with other and political issues - last night the Family Headquarters published the video of the kidnapping of Hirsch Goldberg Polin, Or Levy and Elia Cohen from "The Shield of Death" on October 7. The video, which is difficult to watch, also shows the kidnapping of Alon Ehal, who was kidnapped alongside the three, which was blurred at the request of his parents.