Gaza Herald —It took sustained pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to halt the genocidal war on Gaza. Few believed Israel would stop on its own, and it took two full years of devastation for Washington to push Tel Aviv toward a ceasefire.
Now, Netanyahu’s primary concern is political survival. All public praise has gone to Trump, not to him, even though Netanyahu could have secured this outcome a year earlier. Instead, he repeatedly undermined previous negotiations and broke the March ceasefire, which might have led to the release of all Israeli captives, both dead and alive.
At this stage, Netanyahu faces a delicate balancing act: ensuring that the first phase of the agreement proceeds and that the remaining captives are released. But Israeli commentators, analysts, and even political figures agree that once this stage concludes, it will be politically impossible for him to resume the war.
The question now is whether Netanyahu will attempt to extend his tenure through political maneuvering or call for early elections a decision that could determine not only his career but the future direction of Israeli politics after two years of destruction in Gaza.
