The Prime Minister stood up and said no to the White House peace deal. But behind closed doors, the Americans are just rolling their eyes, and the bulldozers are still rolling into Rafah.
When politicians say no in public, the real answer usually happens in private. In the Middle East right now, a loud rejection of a major peace plan is being treated like standard campaign noise.
On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu looked at a 15-point roadmap designed to disarm Hamas and end the war. He told his cabinet he would not accept it. He drew a hard line in the sand, insisting the military will not pull back until there is “genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament.”
But in Washington, they are not panicking. A senior US official told local reporters that the White House is “not bothered.” They know a heated election is coming up in Israel on October 27.
“We understand Bibi’s political needs,” the official said, using the Prime Minister’s nickname. “We have no problem with it as long as he continues to do what we ask.”
And what is actually happening on the ground tells a very different story. There has been a noticeable pause in Israeli strikes. More importantly, plans to build the first base for an International Stabilization Force in the ruins of Rafah are still scheduled to start at the end of this month.
Nickolay Mladenov, who spent months negotiating the deal, went on Israeli television to calm people down. He said the plan is not built on blind trust. It is built on verification. Weapons get stored, then troops move.
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Aaron David Miller, a veteran American diplomat, pointed out the tight spot Netanyahu is in. He called this the “most consequential election” of the Prime Minister’s life. He has to keep his voters happy without alienating the White House.
Donald Trump needs a foreign policy win before his own midterm elections in November. Netanyahu needs to look tough for his voters next month. The peace plan is still on the table. Now, everyone is just waiting to see who blinks first after the votes are counted.
