Opposition offers Netanyahu political safety net for hostage release deal
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that it would be possible to close the details within half an hour to ratify a ceasefire deal, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be interested
Various Knesset (Israeli parliament) factions convened Monday to discuss the advancing talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a safety net in case coalition members object, while the chairman of Israel Beiteinu, Avigdor Lieberman, called for the return of all the captives at once.
"I wish to remind Netanyahu that he doesn't need [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich," said Lapid. "I offered him a political safety net for the hostage deal. This offer is still valid." He added that the details could be quickly agreed upon – "If Netanyahu can and wants to make a deal, he and I can finalize the details of the safety net within half an hour."
Lapid mentioned a meeting he had with a senior Qatari official, from whom he learned about the details of the emerging deal.
"Yesterday afternoon I met in Paris with a senior official in the Qatari government, who is dealing with the issue of the abductees," Lapid revealed. "I met him with representatives of the abductees' families. It was important to me and to the families that he hear from them firsthand about the terrible nightmare they are living through."
Lieberman said it was "still not too late to go for a deal and for everyone to be released. Whoever prevents a one-off deal prefers coalition interests over national interests."
He addressed the government to find common ground. "Especially after a week in which we suffered heavy losses – with 10 killed in battle, three murdered in the West Bank, dozens injured – the government must change its tune, we must focus on consensus issues and national agreement."
"I call on all members of the Knesset to embrace the families of the kidnapped in these difficult moments," he said. "Regardless of political affiliation - let each of them imagine how the families feel, and understand the tension, grief, and nerves they are engulfed in."