On a deal - Chaim Levinson in Haaretz:

‘Last Friday evening, Steven Witkoff, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, called from Qatar to tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides that he would be coming to Israel the following afternoon. The aides politely explained that was in the middle of the Sabbath but that the prime minister would gladly meet him Saturday night.

Witkoff's blunt reaction took them by surprise. He explained to them in salty English that Shabbat was of no interest to him. His message was loud and clear. Thus in an unusual departure from official practice, the prime minister showed up at his office for an official meeting with Witkoff, who then returned to Qatar to seal the deal.’

(…)

‘Witkoff is a Jewish real estate investor and developer who is close to Trump. He doesn't have the background of the kind of people who usually fill diplomatic roles. "Witkoff isn't a diplomat. He doesn't talk like a diplomat, he has no interest in diplomatic manners and diplomatic protocols," says a senior Israeli diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He's a businessman who wants to reach a deal quickly and charges ahead unusually aggressively."’

(…)

‘Initially, the talk was of a limited humanitarian deal. More and more conditions were slowly appended until it grew into a much bigger proposal with clear outlines – a hostage release, new regional arrangements and full withdrawal. The Philadelphi Corridor, which Netanyahu last summer termed the bedrock of Israel's existence, is part of the deal. At Egypt's request, Israel will fully withdraw from it in the first phase.’

(…)

‘But by noon he announced that it was a catastrophe that Israel should not agree to. Smotrich's statement, however, didn't address the critical issue, namely whether he regards it as a reason to quit the coalition. If he does leave, he will drag Ben-Gvir with him, and the government will fall. If he simply opposes the deal, his opposition will be meaningless – just airtime on radio shows.
This question is linked with another one, whether Netanyahu can pass the 2025 budget and better ensure the survival of the coalition, in light of the crisis over the Haredi draft law and the internecine struggle in the ultra-Orthodox camp over who can be the most extreme. Netanyahu may decide that his government is crumbling anyway, so better to bring it down on a deal that is popular with the non-Ben-Gvir-ist public than on the whims of the Rebbe of Gur.’

Read the article here.

A deal. Or not a deal?

Forget the hostages, Netanyahu and his ministers couldn’t care less.

Netanyahu wasn’t afraid of Biden – probably he ridiculed the good man in private – he appears to be afraid of Trump.

What will come next? Will the deal be closed before or after inauguration day?

I repeat one more time, Trump is eying the Nobel Peace Prize.

That’s what he really wants.