US will play decisive role in Israel-Gaza final, senior Israeli diplomat says

Israel is under US influence in its war against Hamas “more than ever before in the state’s 75-year history”, one of the country’s former senior diplomats has said.

Dr. Alon Liel, head of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said U.S. officials attended War Cabinet meetings in Tel Aviv, led military planning and worked on ambitious plans for a post-war solution to Gaza, adding that the U.S. fight against the war was critical. Military efforts and a possible peace agreement.

Last week, US President Joe Biden met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military cabinet during a visit to Israel.

Dr Liel also said his former boss Netanyahu would be barred from running if elections were held tomorrow because he failed to take responsibility for the security failures that led to the Hamas atrocities on October 7.

Speaking from his home near Tel Aviv, Dr. Liel: “Americans set the agenda. Political-diplomatic agenda for the post-war period and perhaps even during the war.

“Big surprise [the 7 October attack by Hamas] has created a situation in which Americans are more involved than ever in this war, including in our cabinet meetings and in the release of hostages.”

Doctor’s belief However, the claim that “Americans are capable of almost anything” may be questioned by many, especially as Israeli forces launched an attack on the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning.

He noted that the United States has already succeeded in slowing a major Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and reducing tensions that could lead to a significant escalation by Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon.

Dr Liel, who served in his country’s foreign service for 30 years, is the most senior politician to publicly express doubts about Netanyahu’s future.

“I don’t think he can survive this politically. The fact that he is still prime minister is the result of a certain inertia.

“Every voice from the Israeli public will destroy him. There is a lot of anger because he does not take responsibility for the security problems associated with Hamas attacks.

“Army, Mossad, Shabak.” [Israel security agency]Army Intelligence and the Chief of Staff have taken their share of responsibility for the security issues.”

As for when Mr. Netanyahu might be removed from office, Dr. Liel: “In my opinion, his political career is over, but we will probably have to wait until the end of the war to decide who will take power.”

With the goal of establishing peace and ending the conflict, Dr. Liel said there is one person who can revive hopes for a two-state solution: Marwan Barghouti.

This was also reported by a source in American intelligence. I that the post-war plan could also include Barghouti, Fatah’s senior political leader, who is considered on one hand the “Palestinian Mandela” and on the other a terrorist killer.

Next year, Barghouti will begin his 27th year either in exile or in an Israeli prison, a period of imprisonment he shares with Nelson Mandela.

“I was Israel’s ambassador to Mandela and worked closely with him,” the doctor said. Liel. “I am probably the only Israeli who worked with both Mandela and Barghouti.

“Mandela was the only leader who could unite the entire South African nation in 1994, and Barghouti could do the same with the Palestinians 40 years later in 2024.”

He added: “The Israeli public wants Hamas to be removed from power and for someone else to take control of the Gaza Strip.”

But Dr. David Roberts, a Middle East specialist at King’s College London, said it would not be easy to resolve such a historic peace issue between Israelis and Palestinians alone.

“The least impossible scenario in an impossible or nearly impossible situation is that Barghouti becomes the least impossible person to lead post-war Gaza,” the doctor said. Roberts. “This is the only plausible answer at this point.”

Who is Marwan Barghouti?

Marwan Barghouti is the leader of the Fatah party in the West Bank, whom many followers call the “Palestinian Mandela.”

However, Israel viewed him as the leader of the first intifada in 1987, a violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This led to his deportation to Jordan, which his followers endured during his years of captivity.

He returned to Israel as part of the Oslo Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiated in 1993 by US President Bill Clinton.

In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council and from this position began actively promoting the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

As secretary general of the Fatah Party, Barghouti campaigned against corruption in Yasser Arafat’s PLO government and human rights abuses by its security services. He developed relationships with a number of Israeli politicians and members of the Israeli peace movement.

However, after the failure of two-state talks in the summer of 2000, he became disillusioned and declared that popular protests and “new forms of military struggle” would be features of the “next intifada”, which began the following September. . .

During the Second Intifada, Barghouti was the leader of Tanzim, Fatah’s paramilitary branch.

Israeli authorities consider him a terrorist and accuse him of carrying out numerous attacks, including suicide bombings, against civilian and military targets.

He was subsequently arrested by the Israeli army in 2002 and found guilty of murder.

Barghouti refused to defend himself and said the trial was illegal. He continues to serve five life sentences he received in court.

Although he is in prison, he remains highly influential among Palestinians, earning him status as a potential unifying candidate and successor to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2011, he was on the verge of release when Hamas struck a deal to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The agreement provided for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, but Barghouti was not among them.