Israel – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Tuesday that what worries Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not the Philadelphia axis, but rather the “(National Security Minister Itamar) Ben-Gvir-(Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich axis.”
According to what was reported by the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Lapid said that Netanyahu’s statements about the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt “are a political trick that has no connection to reality.”
In his press conference yesterday, Monday, Netanyahu said that achieving the goals of the war on Gaza “passes through the Philadelphi corridor,” stressing that Tel Aviv will not withdraw from it “at all.”
Israeli negotiators, opposition figures and families of prisoners in Gaza believe that Netanyahu’s position undermines the chances of reaching a prisoner exchange agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas.
While Hamas and Egypt oppose the Israeli army remaining in the Philadelphi corridor.
Lapid pointed out that “what worries Netanyahu is not staying in the Philadelphi axis, but the Ben Gvir-Smotrich axis.”
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had previously called for the Israeli army to remain on the Philadelphi corridor.
On more than one occasion, the two ministers threatened to withdraw from the government if a prisoner exchange agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza were accepted.
If they carry out their threat, it could topple Netanyahu’s government and lead to early elections, which opinion polls say the current prime minister’s chances of winning are “almost non-existent.”
In other statements, Lapid told Israel’s Channel 13 on Tuesday: “Entering Rafah, the Netzarim corridor (central Gaza Strip) and now Philadelphia, Netanyahu always has an excuse to continue the war forever. The only thing that matters to him is that the government does not collapse.”
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2024-09-03 11:23:02