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Analysts believe that the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to create a state of internal pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push him towards changing his way of managing the war on the Gaza Strip without abandoning the goal of eliminating the resistance.

The expert on Israeli affairs, Mahmoud Yazbek, confirmed that the visit made by Israeli War Council member Benny Gantz to Washington and Britain this week “was a kind of verbal pressure that does not mean a radical change in the position of the two countries towards Israel.”

Yazbek said - during his participation in the program “Gaza: What Next?” - that the United States is trying to put pressure on Netanyahu from within his war council, which can obstruct many of the decisions taken by the Israeli Prime Minister to satisfy the extremist pillars of his government in order to preserve his position regardless of Washington’s position. Of these decisions.

Limited pressure

Although American pressure is still rhetorical, it may bear fruit in limited matters, but it will not be effective unless it takes painful steps such as stopping the supply of weapons to Israel, according to Yazbek.

The same opinion was held by the senior researcher at the Al Jazeera Center for Political Studies, Dr. Liqaa Makki, who said that Gantz’s visit to Washington should not be burdened more than it can bear, because the United States has strategic relations that cannot be touched with Israel in the end.

Makki believes that Washington disagrees with Netanyahu in his management of the war and his method of getting rid of Hamas, but it does not disagree with him on these goals, noting that Washington - according to the leaks - did not discuss with Gantz the issue of replacing Netanyahu.

Accordingly,.

In Makki’s opinion, the United States “said something to Gantz that it could not say to Netanyahu so that he would return and put pressure on him within the War Council to do what Washington wanted.”

Former US Defense Department official Yasmine El-Gamal did not disagree with the previous two opinions by saying that Gantz’s visit actually represents pressure on Netanyahu, even if not in the way some want.

But Al-Gamal believes that there is American behavior aimed at showing the extent of American anger at what Israel is doing, which is what Gantz was surprised by upon his arrival in Washington, according to her.

Netanyahu is in a difficult situation

Accordingly, Yazbek says, “It seems that Netanyahu is currently in a very difficult situation, because he tried to jump on the Biden administration, as he did with the Obama administration when he refused to talk about establishing a Palestinian state, and went directly to the US Senate, and received great support there, because the current administration "I succeeded in blocking him this time."

From this standpoint, it is Netanyahu himself who is exposed to American pressure, not Israel, says Yazbak, who confirmed that the Israeli prime minister was counting on raising his political stock through opposition from Washington, but he backed down when the pressure on him reached a certain point.

These moves do not mean a major potential change in Washington's position, but rather are only an attempt to achieve the electoral interests of President Biden, who wants to release the American hostages and obtain some calm during a difficult electoral period within the Democratic Party.

In addition, the United States and Britain - Al-Jamal says - realize that Netanyahu will not remain prime minister forever and know that his popularity is declining, “and therefore a large part of the discussion with Gantz may have dealt with what will happen after the end of the war.”

Al-Gamal added that Washington wanted to make clear to Gantz - as Netanyahu's strongest competitor - what he must know if he takes over as prime minister in the future and not to misunderstand American anger at what is currently happening, and also to understand the importance of the two-state solution to it.

Part of the American dispute with Netanyahu - in Makki's opinion - is that the latter "went too far in his practices, violated all laws, and embarrassed the United States with its Arab allies, in addition to harming its plans to integrate Israel into the region."

Netanyahu has gone far beyond what was planned, says Makki, who stressed that Washington is still adhering to the goal of eliminating Hamas, but it wants to achieve it in a different way, which may be political through a Palestinian authority that will administer the Strip and disarm.

Therefore - Makki adds - America and Britain want to pressure Netanyahu from within the War Council to take more moderate decisions, especially with regard to the attack on Rafah and dealing with humanitarian issues in a way that relieves them of embarrassment while continuing the war.

Yazbek agreed with the previous opinion, but pointed out that “the dispute between the right and Gantz is very deep, and that the important question is: Can America, Gantz and his group pressure Netanyahu to cease fire soon?”

As for Al-Gamal, she believes that the results of Gantz’s visit to Washington and London will soon appear through the truce that Biden insists on reaching before the month of Ramadan, indicating that Hamas must accept the current conditions, because it will not obtain a complete cessation of fighting nor a complete withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip at present.

She concluded that the situation is "sensitive and the pressures are high, because everyone is pushing for a truce before Ramadan."

Source: Al Jazeera