In just about every interview of a Biden administration official who has been involved with trying to get a deal since just about the very beginning of the war, they were asked why now? Why was a deal that was laid on the table last May being agreed to now?
The implication is obvious. Netanyahu didn’t want to make a deal because he would lose power - fearing his government would collapse by the resignation of his far right coalition members. The implication being that he did are about the hostages. He just cared about winning the war without even defining what that meant.
That narrative has been quickly adopted by all the Netanyahu haters. Both here and in Israel.
But in every case the Biden official who was asked that ‘loaded’ question the answer was the same. The reason the deal was not made back in May or in subsequent attempts at it is because EVEN THOUGH ISRAEL HAD ACCEPTED EVERYTIME Hamas rejected it - every time.
Why are they accepting it now? Because they have been isolated through the loss of Hezbollah at the hands of Israel with the approval of tye US, the subsequent fall of Assad’s Syria, and a weakened Iran.
Hamas itself was weakened by losses of their own leaders. So they have decided to drop some of the additional demands made and accept the deal put on the Table by Biden.
One can quibble about whether this is a good deal for Israel or not. But one cannot blame the delay on a deal that was available in May on Netanyahu.
I would suggest that the ‘blame Netanyahu for everything’ crowd try to see things as they are. Not as their biases have led them to believe.
