My current opinion is that Netanyahu is the only person in Israeli leadership other than Ben-Gvir and Smotrich (or any of the other psychotic, irrational Nazis) who wants this to continue. I do believe in theory that he will continue a state of war to avoid going to prison, even if it harms Israel.
So the question I don’t know the answer to is: can Netanyahu torpedo the deal even against Trump and the entirety of Israeli leadership? If so…
I sometimes try to think about Palestine as a board game - not to trivialize it, but to try and anticipate what Israel will do while feeling detached from it. If I was in charge of the forces of evil (Israel), I would want to wrap up Gaza yesterday, even if it meant a less than optimal deal. I would be focused on the fact that I have until January 2029 to get Miriam Adelson her ROI on her bribe to Trump. Make sure he’s on board with the annexation of the West Bank - tell him I’ll give him anything he wants in the ceasefire so gets his Nobel. Then spend the next ~3 years pouring all your resources into planning on West Bank annexation by the end of Trump’s 2nd term.
The fact that Israel doesn’t seem to be thinking this way at all I think says something, I’m just not sure what.
My current opinion is that Netanyahu is the only person in Israeli leadership other than Ben-Gvir and Smotrich (or any of the other psychotic, irrational Nazis) who wants this to continue. I do believe in theory that he will continue a state of war to avoid going to prison, even if it harms Israel.
So the question I don’t know the answer to is: can Netanyahu torpedo the deal even against Trump and the entirety of Israeli leadership? If so…
I sometimes try to think about Palestine as a board game - not to trivialize it, but to try and anticipate what Israel will do while feeling detached from it. If I was in charge of the forces of evil (Israel), I would want to wrap up Gaza yesterday, even if it meant a less than optimal deal. I would be focused on the fact that I have until January 2029 to get Miriam Adelson her ROI on her bribe to Trump. Make sure he’s on board with the annexation of the West Bank - tell him I’ll give him anything he wants in the ceasefire so gets his Nobel. Then spend the next ~3 years pouring all your resources into planning on West Bank annexation by the end of Trump’s 2nd term.
The fact that Israel doesn’t seem to be thinking this way at all I think says something, I’m just not sure what.