The Israeli newspapers - published today, Tuesday - focused on two issues that preoccupy Israeli society, namely the prisoner exchange deal in light of the Egyptian proposal presented to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and its relationship to the invasion of Rafah, and its potential effects on the Israeli government, in addition to the fear of arrest warrants being issued against officials. Israelis, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before the International Criminal Court.

The issue of the escalation of protests in American universities against the war on Gaza, which began to spread to Europe, was also not lost.

The Haaretz editorial, entitled “A Deal Now and Immediately,” attacked Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oppose the prisoner exchange deal and threaten to withdraw from the government if it is completed.

The Israeli newspaper said, “This is the distorted scale of values of the extreme right, as it prefers an eternal war and the opportunity to settle in Gaza over the lives of the kidnapped. It also knows very well Netanyahu’s weaknesses as he is a leader without a backbone, and the only thing that stands before his eyes is his political survival, and therefore men.” The right is threatening something that scares Netanyahu more than anything else: withdrawal from the government.”

Demanding counter pressure on Netanyahu

Haaretz called on State Camp head Benny Gantz and former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot - who support reaching the deal and postponing the Rafah invasion - to exert counter-pressure on Netanyahu.

The newspaper reminded Gantz of his statements in which he said, "If an official proposal to return the kidnapped people is realized and approved by the security apparatus and does not involve ending the war, and is banned from the government, it will not have the right to continue its presence and lead the battle."

It added, "Gantz and Eisenkot are obligated to threaten to withdraw. Although the government can continue to work even without them, this will be a signal to the public that Netanyahu and his companions have decided to leave the kidnapped to their fate once and for all. This is also the reason why the families of the kidnapped are now directing pressure on Gantz and demonstrating in front of his house." .

Double crisis

As for the well-known political writer Ben Caspit, he wrote in the newspaper “Maariv” under the title “Israel is experiencing a double drama” between a kidnapping deal that shakes the government and arrest orders that shake Israel.

Ben Caspit discussed the dilemma that Netanyahu is experiencing by saying, “A double drama: one is Israeli, and it takes place between the war council and the expanded council, and on the personal level between Netanyahu and his jailers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, and the second is international and is linked to the sensitive information that reached Israel in recent days, according to which the public prosecutor is looking into the criminal case.” The international community in The Hague seriously issued arrest warrants against the Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Chief of Staff and other figures in the Israeli leadership.

The writer then touched on the difficult psychological state that Netanyahu is going through, saying, “This event shook Netanyahu’s world, and people who work with him describe him as terrified.” The writer pointed out that Netanyahu is doing everything in his power to urge international officials to put pressure on International Criminal Prosecutor Karim Khan.

Roll the snowball

The writer added that Israeli President Isaac Herzog is also managing communications on his part in an attempt to stop the snowball before it starts rolling down the slope, as the issue was also raised in a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over the weekend. Following the call, the US National Security Council published a statement that the Criminal Court does not have any powers to investigate the Gaza issue, but the influence of America and Israel on the court is not great because they are not members of it.

He described these anticipated orders as having “caught Israel in a strategic surprise,” noting that Karim Khan is not considered hostile to Israel, and perhaps the opposite. He arrived in Israel after October 7 at the invitation of the Detainees' Families Committee, toured the devastated environment, met survivors and freed detainees, and was "deeply moved."

Ben Caspit added that Israel is now trying to stop this drift, "if arrest warrants are issued, it will cause Israel unprecedented and particularly grave strategic damage." This will be the first step of its kind, and it could lead to chain reactions and a smooth slope that will find Israel itself ending up in the status of a law-breaking or outcast state. “This will indeed be an absolute victory, but not for us, but for our enemies.”

The exchange deal is more important

In this context as well, Amos Harel, a military analyst in the Haaretz newspaper, wrote about the new circumstances that strengthened the trend towards an exchange deal, but he doubted Netanyahu’s ability to proceed with the deal due to his adherence to his right-wing partners, as he said, “For a long time, the threat to occupy Rafah was just words.” Empty. Military preparations progressed slowly, and Netanyahu did not urge the army to act, and the statements about an upcoming operation in Rafah were believed only by a handful of his obsessed followers who also believed the promise of absolute victory.

In recent weeks, something has changed - says the military analyst - military operations have become more tangible, and Hamas has also begun to feel a certain danger. Perhaps this is the background to the signs of flexibility from Hamas, even if they are still very slight. However, there are American reservations about the occupation of Rafah, as well as Washington's requests from Israel to ensure the safe evacuation of the Palestinians from the city as a condition for the start of the military operation.

The military analyst cited inferences about the Israeli army’s lack of enthusiasm for invading Rafah, saying, “It is enough to listen to the words of Reserve General Israel Ziv, an analyst familiar with the positions of the General Staff on Channel 12, that any exchange deal that precedes the operation is more important than the operation in Rafah, which would be better never to happen.” Rafah It is not particularly important for the sake of destroying Hamas, and the strategic trap that awaits us there could lead to difficult results, and Netanyahu is proud of the direction, but he does not see the pit into which he and Israel may fall.

Hamas demands

The political analyst touched on details related to the Egyptian proposal that is currently being negotiated, saying that until now, the main difficulty in the negotiations lies in Hamas’s demand that the deal include a complete ceasefire and an end to the war, a request that Netanyahu found difficult to comprehend.

In the newspaper "Israel Today", Yoav Limor wrote about the military operation in Rafah, and said that Netanyahu is trying to maneuver, and, if the kidnapped deal is delayed, he will move towards a limited campaign in Rafah so that he maintains his credibility among the Israeli public regarding his pledge to the operation in this city, but in In return, he will refrain from direct confrontation with the international community, which strongly opposes this process.

At the same time, the writer pointed to the crisis facing Netanyahu if the deal succeeds, and in light of the American effort to end the war and proceed with the process of normalization in the region, where he said, “As part of a deal like this, Israel will be required to look into the future of the Gaza Strip and the entities that will ultimately govern it.” Here too, Netanyahu will be torn between the hawks in his government who at this moment reject every proposal and every idea that does not include Israeli control in the region, and the majority of the political and security leadership that seeks to transfer responsibility to another party.

Netanyahu's tweet

As for Israeli fears regarding the issue of the criminal court, Maariv newspaper reported in its main news the following: “High-level parties in Israel criticized the tweet in which Netanyahu criticized the international court. They said that Netanyahu’s mere issuance of this tweet is wrong, and certainly in this period and situation in which there is In both cases, Israel said anything that would complicate the already complex situation, and there is no room for sending a message to the court that would be interpreted as a threat.”

Netanyahu wrote on Friday: “Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the Criminal Court to question its fundamental right to defend itself. The threat against army soldiers and public figures in Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and the only Jewish state in the world, is scandalous. We will not surrender to it.” .

Source: Israeli press