GAZA - Menachem Klein, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, says it remains an open question whether the Israeli prime minister would be willing to agree to a permanent halt to the war on Gaza.
As we’ve been reporting, the latest proposal that has been put forward involves a 60-day ceasefire. “He wants to buy time and not commit himself to end the war. He is ready to go for a two-month ceasefire. Nobody knows if he is ready, or very keen and honest, to negotiate … a permanent ceasefire beyond this 60 days,” Klein told Al Jazeera. Klein also noted that with the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – soon going into summer recess, Netanyahu is seizing on the fact that his shaky government coalition cannot be dissolved. It also gives the Israeli leader time to get alternative political support if prominent far-right members of his coalition, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, withdraw their parties in anger over a Gaza deal. “If the ultra-racist, right-wing parties leave the coalition, he can negotiate with the centrist [former Defence Minister Benny] Gantz to join the government and [stabilise] his coalition,” Klein said. (Al Jazeera)