President-elect Donald Trump’s tough diplomacy lingered large over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s swift action on Thursday to get the country’s cease-fire deal back on track after internal tensions delayed the Israeli cabinet’s vote, sources told The Post.
Trump’s hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to the war — telling Hamas “all hell will break loose” if they don’t release the hostages and sending his Mideast envoy to pressure Netanyahu to take the deal on Saturday — instilled a determination in the prime minister not previously seen during the 16 months the Biden administration attempted to single-handedly push a peace agreement.
“Keep[ing] Trump happy” has become a national prerogative in Israel, which fears that the soon-to-be US president’s “unflinching support for Israel were to suddenly flinch,” a diplomat for the Jewish state told CNN.
What’s more, former Knesset member Ruth Wasserman Lande told The Post that Trump has “tremendous influence over Bibi [Netanyahu.]”
A key reason is because Trump’s bold pro-Israel moves during his first term garnered “leverage” over Netanyahu, Israeli officials have told The Post.
During his first tenure, he made the US the only nation to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory and moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — two major wins for conservative Israelis.
Now, there is hushed neuroticism that favor could run out — though Trump has appointed “the most pro-Israel American candidate” for the US ambassadorship in former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, some Israeli officials told The Post.
Trump had a “huge impact” because he “forced” Steve Witkoff on Netanyahu, telling him, “We have to meet and we have to speak. No more games, no games,” a source close to the Israeli government said.
Partially proving that point is that Netanyahu had previously been opposed to a very similar cease-fire arrangement brokered last year under the Biden administration — one that also would have seen the release of the hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu was reportedly influenced by wanting to avoid any of Trump’s wrath if the latter’s declaration of a resolution by Inauguration Day was not met.
Though the Biden administration repeatedly blamed Hamas for prior deals falling through, Israeli political insiders say Netanyahu’s resistance to the deal — which faded when Trump waded into the negotiations — played more of a role than Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated.
“Some people say [the deal was never made] because of Hamas. Some people say it was because of Israel,” Israeli politics expert and former journalist Ben-Dror Yemini told The Post.
“The United States establishment repeatedly said that it was because of the Hamas, but some people in Israel from the opposition say it was because of Netanyahu,” he added.
“This is what most commentators in Israel think — that the very moment that Trump began to interfere [with a possible cease-fire] paved the way to realize it, to make it happen.”
The prime minister is still at risk of losing needed support in his coalition over the deal, but opposition members of the Knesset have vowed to vote with Netanyahu’s party to move the agreement over the finish line.
But Netanyahu wasn’t entirely motivated out of fear of Trump over his own political future, sources close to the Israeli government said.
In truth, it was Trump’s history of fervent support for Israel that bolstered the prime minister’s faith in a successful resolution to the matter.
He also used that support to curry trust with his security cabinet to push the deal forward, emphasizing that the US would have Israel’s back if future stages of the agreement devolve.
“There are guarantees from the Americans that if Hamas sabotages a certain stage of the deal, Israel can resume fighting,” Netanyahu told his ministers, a source close to the matter told CNN.
Yemini said such guarantees were likely given verbally, as they do not appear in print in the cease-fire agreement.
The first stage of phase one of the three-phase agreement — which involves the release of three hostages in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners — is expected to take place on Sunday, should the deal be finally approved by Netanyahu’s full cabinet.
Future stages will involve the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in exchange for the return of all hostages taken by Hamas during its brutal attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“He wanted to satisfy his internal opposition, to tell them, ‘No, don’t worry if something will fail, we will get back to [the war if it does,]’” Yemini said.
“We have to admit that he was in between the American pressure from one side [to reach an agreement] and the public opinion pressure in Israel and the extreme right [to continue the war,]” he explained.
“Most Israelis support the deal.”
