Chicago – December 29, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure from his right-wing coalition government due to significant divisions over the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis, which is approaching its 90th day with no resolution in sight or agreement for a cease-fire.
After significant resistance from far-right coalition members, Netanyahu cancelled a meeting of Israel’s war cabinet on Thursday night that was supposed to review the strategy for the “day after” the war.
The ultranationalist Jewish Power party’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the issue was outside the scope of the war cabinet’s mandate. In response to his exclusion from the discussion, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist party announced its meeting.
Under such duress, Netanyahu chose not to have a war cabinet meeting on the topic, which the security cabinet will now discuss on Tuesday.
The US has proposed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) rule over Gaza after Israel fulfils its stated objective of removing Hamas, whose October 7 attack on southern Israel ignited the war.
