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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security consultation on Saturday night, which is being attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and representatives of the negotiating team, just as the ultimatum set by U.S. President Donald Trump to Hamas - "to release all hostages" - has expired.
All heads of the defense establishment support the continuation of the implementation of Phase I of the cease-fire and hostage release deal, including the defense minister. He supports this position, under which Israel continues with the original agreement and returns as many living hostages from Gaza as possible.
At the same time, the senior officials say that, in the event Hamas violates the agreement, the renewed fighting will be different and much more intense. Discussions are now focusing on an attempt to return the six remaining living hostages slates for Phase I in the coming week, and then attempt to expand the deal to include hostages who are supposed to return in Phase II, by providing additional humanitarian deliveries during Ramadan. The U.S. is also working to return the six from Phase I this week.
In addition, the Prime Minister's Office announced Saturday evening that Netanyahu "will convene the political and security cabinet as soon as possible to decide on Israel's next steps." The office also stated that "Prime Minister Netanyahu greatly appreciates President Trump's leadership and the ongoing coordination with the U.S. The combination of the reinforcement of IDF forces around the Gaza Strip and President Trump's aggressive stance led to the release of three of our hostages today - despite Hamas' earlier refusal to release them. The prime minister also appreciates the president's full support for Israel's decisions regarding the Gaza Strip going forward."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Israel Saturday night for a two-day visit to Israel. The visit will focus on talks to continue the hostage deal, in light of Trump's ultimatum , a plan to encourage voluntary immigration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the cease-fire in Lebanon, and the Iranian threat. Ahead of his visit, the State Department said that he will deal, among other things, with "the release of American citizens and all other hostages from Hamas captivity and the promotion of the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire agreement."
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Families of the hostages and their supporters demonstrate in Tel Aviv for the return of all the hostages
(Photo: Ammar Awad/ Reuters)
Rubio and Netanyahu's meeting will be held on Sunday at noon at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Before that, Netanyahu will hold an extended meeting with cabinet ministers. During the day, Rubio will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and the two are expected to speak there.
Rubio is arriving in Israel from the annual security conference in Munich. On Monday morning, he will conclude his visit and continue with a series of diplomatic meetings in the Middle East. After Israel, his next destination is expected to be Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. secretary of state will arrive in Saudi Arabia amid reports that the Saudis and other Arab countries are formulating an alternative to Trump's Gaza plan, which involves a U.S. takeover of Gaza and the removal of the local population. Trump's plan has caused consternation in the Arab world. Ahead of an Arab summit to be held at the end of the month, Rubio said of the plan: "Right now the only plan - they don't like it, but it's the only plan - is Trump's plan. So if they have a better plan, now is the time to present it."
The ultimatum Trump issued on Monday which called for the release of all the hostages led to a great deal of confusion in the Prime Minister's Office. This could be seen in the Friday statement which announced the names of the three hostages that were released on Saturday. The first statement which published the names of the three hostages stated: "This list is acceptable to Israel and is being forwarded with the families' approval." About 20 minutes later, a revised statement was issued reading: "Instead of 'this list is acceptable to Israel,' it should have stated that 'this list was accepted in Israel.'" The statement added that: "There was an unfortunate spelling error. This is a purely factual description that does not reflect Israel's attitude toward the issue."
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But a senior source on the negotiating team told Ynet that the amendment by the Prime Minister's Office was intended to reduce the growing pressure on the right on Netanyahu's behavior in recent days. From an explicit threat of a massive war - to agreement (which was denied) with the list of hostages that Hamas handed over. The reactions from the right and the announcement by Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir ("You have the full backing of the president of the world's greatest power to demand all the hostages by Saturday - and you're satisfied with three?!") make it clear that the Prime Minister's Office was under pressure.
Two events influenced the PMO's conduct: Hamas' announcement of a freeze on the hostage releases and Trump's ultimatum to Hamas that if all the hostages (with emphasis on "all") are not released by noon, the gates of hell will open on Gaza. To a large extent, Hamas' unilateral announcement allowed Netanyahu to prove to the right that he is not giving in and that he is seriously threatening to renew the war in Gaza, and even more so with greater intensity.
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Trump's ultimatum, calls for return of "all the hostages"
(Photo: Real America's Voice )
But according to a senior government official, Trump's announcement actually "complicated" things in Israel without Trump intending to do so at all. The fact that Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas that Israel did not demand or intend to demand put Netanyahu's office in a bad position. That is why Netanyahu and his people refused to deal with the numbers of hostages or even demand the release of more than three hostages at this time.
A senior right-wing source said that Netanyahu came out on the bottom of this incident. Trump set a high bar for the release of all the hostages, while Netanyahu, after all the threats and reports of reservist mobilization and increased security preparedness, ultimately was content with Hamas' list of only three hostages. "It seems that in the end Israel is coming out of this story looking like a sucker," says a political source. "At first, there were voices that agreed with Trump's ultimatum, and in the end, they are content with three hostages. Hamas was already deterred. American pressure worked. Israel failed to leverage this opportunity."
This situation is politically binding on Netanyahu. Netanyahu wants Ben-Gvir to return to the government, but in the meantime he is only flanking Netanyahu on the deep right and claiming that his policy on the deal exudes "weakness." Religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich has already smelled the scent of gunpowder in the skies over Gaza, but in the end he too discovered that Israel is returning to dealing with Hamas as it did yesterday or the day before. This is also why the words of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Knesset member Yuli Edelstein caused great anger in the Prime Minister's Office. Edelstein claimed during a Knesset meeting that Israel is already engaged in Phase II of the hostage deal - the political significance of which is the dissolution of the government. Therefore, Netanyahu's media advisor Omer Dostri was quick to publish: "Contrary to Edelstein's claim - Israel is not currently negotiating phase two of the deal."
How will this end? Netanyahu is walking a tightrope. Public sentiment is to continue the hostage deal to the next stage. According to the polls, there is a majority in the public for this. Politically, Netanyahu has lost this round. He is in a big dilemma: how to continue the hostage deal without losing the government and his political survival. These two things do not necessarily go together.