Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can only truly agree to end the fighting in Gaza if U.S. President Donald Trump guarantees Israel the right to return to the Strip should Hamas violate the agreement, explained former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren.
Speaking to ILTV News, he said that while the majority of Israelis want the war against Hamas to end, they are seeking an open-ended ceasefire deal that ensures the return of all hostages and includes a firm condition: "Should they ever attack us again, even with a single rocket, we’ll go back and destroy them and have the Americans guarantee our ability to do that."
Netanyahu has been reluctant to agree to such a deal, Oren noted, because he recalls Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, when then–Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that if Hezbollah violated the ceasefire, Israel could go back in.
"Once you’re out, it’s not so easy to go back in," Oren said. "That’s the lesson of history."
Watch the full interview:
NETANYAHU TO MEET TRUMP NEXT WEEK
(ILTV)
