Netanyahu on the blueprint for the hostage deal: "We will not release thousands of terrorists"/Prime Minister's Office
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will visit Washington tomorrow (Wednesday) and meet with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other senior officials in the Biden administration to discuss the war in Gaza and the plans for the day after - according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Drummer/Ruben Castro
why is it important
Dermer is the minister closest to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the only one in the cabinet with whom Netanyahu has a close relationship of trust.
Netanyahu trusts Dermer exclusively when it comes to sensitive talks with the White House.
Before the October 7th attack, Dermer was responsible for contacts with the White House regarding the sensitive issue of the American attempt to reach a package deal with Saudi Arabia that would also include normalization with Israel.
The White House has continued talks with Dermer on the issue even in the months that have passed since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and the issue is expected to come up during Dermer's talks in Washington this week, one of the sources said.
The secret?
rowing swimming
How to look and feel great, live healthy and lose weight?
In collaboration with TI SWIM
what are they saying
There was no response from the White House, the Prime Minister's office, or Dermer's office.
The big picture
During his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos about two weeks ago, American National Security Adviser Sullivan said that the strategy of the Biden administration for the day after the war in Gaza is to tie the normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia to create a path for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Sullivan's public message was the same as the message that US Secretary of State Lincoln conveyed to Netanyahu during his last visit to Israel.
Blinken made it clear to the Prime Minister that the Saudis will not normalize relations with Israel and will not help rebuild Gaza without Israeli willingness to allow a path to a Palestinian state.
The American administration hopes to use the possibility of a historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a lever of pressure on Netanyahu that will make him align with the American plan for the day after the war in Gaza, which is centered on the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Strip and the implementation of steps that will help establish a Palestinian state in the future.
The American administration wants to present Netanyahu with a dilemma - whether to win a historic peace agreement with Saudi Arabia at the price of abandoning his far-right coalition or reject the proposal and enter a collision course with the US and the Arab countries.
Yes but
In recent weeks, Netanyahu has signaled that he has no intention of abandoning the far-right parties that oppose even the smallest gesture for the Palestinians.
Senior American officials admit that it is unlikely that Netanyahu will change direction, agree to the American proposal and be ready to act to create a path to a Palestinian state.
What next
Two senior Israeli officials said that US Secretary of State Lincoln plans to come next week for his sixth visit to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza to discuss mainly the issue of the day after.
There was no comment from the US State Department.
More on the same topic:
Ron Drummer
Gaza war