\u201cFor him, it\u2019s checkmate. It\u2019s a very strong move,\u201d Shtrauchler said, that could see Netanyahu enter the next election with the hostages released and Israel\u2019s push to expand ties with Arab and Muslim nations, a process derailed by the war in Gaza, revived.<\/p>\n
\t Seated at main table, L\/R, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Indonesia\u2019s President Prabowo Subianto, Qatar\u2019s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump, Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah II, Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Egypt\u2019s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attend a multilateral meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s proposal, quickly endorsed by leaders across the Arab and Muslim world, asks little of Israel in the short term.<\/p>\n Instead, it puts all the pressure on Hamas, demanding the freedom for all of the remaining hostages and the surrender of its weapons as a precondition for ending Israel\u2019s siege of Gaza.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military would remain in Gaza for now, pulling back to positions along the border only once an international force assumes control. Netanyahu, who has insisted that Israel must retain overall security control after the war, said on Tuesday the military would stay in most of Gaza but offered no timeline.<\/p>\n Coalition partner slams plan as \u2018political illusions\u2019<\/p>\n In a lengthy post on X on Tuesday, Smotrich, who has openly called for Israel\u2019s Gaza campaign to continue, denounced Trump\u2019s plan, arguing it would trade \u201creal achievements on the ground for political illusions.\u201d His Religious Zionism party holds seven of the Knesset\u2019s 120 seats, though recent polls indicate that he would struggle to win any if elections were held today.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023, massacre, has lost support among much of the public. A survey published on Tuesday by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute found that 66 percent of Israelis believe that it is time to end the war, including 48.5% on the political right.<\/p>\n Eran Lerman, a former deputy national security adviser, said that Netanyahu knows Hamas\u2019s acceptance of Trump\u2019s plan could shatter his ruling coalition, but may still hope to be able to face voters with \u201ca very different perspective on what happened over the last two years\u201d than he would be able to present today.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure that this is true, but you know, politicians are easily tempted to believe in things that cohere with their ambitions,\u201d said Lerman, who is also vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security think tank.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s opposition, made up of right, center, and left parties, has also called for an end to the war and is often critical of Smotrich and Ben Gvir, another far-right minister with outsized coalition influence. Many have also ruled out joining a future coalition with Netanyahu\u2019s ultra-Orthodox allies over their communities\u2019 refusal to serve in the military.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AFP__20250923__76JL724__v1__HighRes__UnUsUngaDiplomacyTrump-1-640x400.jpg\")
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