Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is expected to arrive in Israel at the end of the week, unusually requested to receive a four-eyed security review directly from the Chief of Staff and not within the framework of the War Cabinet as was the case in previous times.
This is Blinken's fifth visit to Israel since the beginning of the war, when on each visit the members of the War Cabinet gathered together with the Chief of Staff for special meetings with Blinken for a topical military review. Due to previous criticism of American presence in the War Cabinet, it was stated on previous occasions that this was not a cabinet forum but rather In a meeting where all its components are present.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu// Roy Avraham PM
This time there was an unusual request from the American Secretary of State to receive a separate review without the presence of the ministers, but the Prime Minister's Office, it was learned, refused and announced that the forum in which Blinken would receive the security review would remain the same.
Netanyahu in the War Cabinet, photo: Amos Ben Gershom/Leam
The logic is clear: a request by a senior foreign official for a one-on-one meeting with the Chief of Staff in the middle of a war, even though it is a representative of the US administration, is an unusual event in the diplomatic landscape.
In response to Israel Hayom's inquiry, the Prime Minister's Office stated: "The meeting will take place as usual, as part of the meeting with the Prime Minister." The State Department spokeswoman did not provide a response.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken before his departure from Cairo, photo: Reuters
Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days after visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt amid American pressure for an imminent ceasefire as part of a deal to release the abductees as well as a normalization deal that also includes recognition of a Palestinian state.
After his visit to Egypt, Lincoln is expected to land in Qatar and from there he is supposed to arrive in Israel towards the end of the week as well.
The American administration hopes that Blinken will return with Hamas answers regarding the general lines agreed upon at the summit in Paris from his visit to Egypt and Qatar and then try to complete significant steps to advance the deal when he arrives in Israel between Wednesday and Thursday.
Even before his departure to the region, it was said that Blinken's goals also include increasing humanitarian aid to the Strip as well as promoting normalization in the region.
However, humanitarian aid is now back on the table of the decision-makers in the war cabinet, which is expected to discuss the further transfer of aid to the Gaza Strip through UNRA and the formation of alternatives to the organization whose name was linked to the massacre and kidnapping events on October 7.
Gaza Strip.
Humanitarian aid and normalization, photo: AFP
Yesterday (Monday), the Wall Street Journal published that out of 136 abductees, 32 died.
In response: The director of the returned missing abductees and their families: "According to the official data we have, there are 31 victims. Before the article was distributed, an orderly message was given to all the families of the abductees by the liaison officers that there is no change in the status of the assessments."
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