The last two weeks have given rise to joy in Israel upon the return of the remaining 20 live hostages, and to hope that at long last we might be on the way to some sort of reasonable settlement regarding the Gaza Strip that will ensure peace and quiet, at least for the foreseeable future.
However, the events of the last week have prevented these feelings from being complete and free of concerns.
On the internal Israeli front, the opening of the 25th Knesset’s winter session last Monday provided too many farcical elements due to the childish audacity of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who refused to greet Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit by his official title, and throughout the sitting threw out at least a dozen opposition MKs for alleged misconduct. Ohana also warned opposition leader Yair Lapid that if he would continue to refer to him as “speaker of only half the Knesset,” he would be removed from the speaker’s podium.
Knesset opening session
One of the positive highlights of the opening session was the short impromptu speech delivered by President Isaac Herzog, in which he admonished Ohana for his callous opening address, which was “disrespectful,” “a slight to human dignity,” and “a blow to the dignity of other state authorities” – especially the judicial authority, and finally welcomed the presence of Amit with his full official title.
Another highlight were parts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, in which he admitted that Amit is the president of the Supreme Court and called for the “preservation of our unity” in order to achieve our goals. However, he continued by blaming the opposition for the absence of unity through violence and threats on the lives of himself and his family and other elected representatives and their families.
In fact, the only prime minister ever assassinated on political grounds in Israel was Labor prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, almost 30 years ago to the day, while Netanyahu, as leader of the opposition at the time, had not acted strongly enough to condemn calls for his assassination arising from right-wing circles.
In addition, Netanyahu accused the opposition of not recognizing the fact that he is prime minister and that his ministers are Israel’s government. Again, the reality is different. The opposition recognizes these facts but adds that Netanyahu and his ministers constitute the worst government and prime minister that Israel has ever had.
It also points out that they do not accept any responsibility for the catastrophe of October 7, when they were Israel’s official, legally elected leaders, and some 1,200 innocent people in the Gaza border communities were butchered by Hamas terrorists, as the defense forces were slow to come to the rescue.
In fact, it was the opposition during the term of the 24th Knesset, headed by Netanyahu, that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the “government of change” and its two prime ministers – Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid – on the basis of false arguments. The Knesset record is full of statements to this effect.
One of the most frustrating actions taken by Netanyahu in the course of the last week was to officially change the name of the Israel-Hamas War to “Milhemet HaTkumah,” which may be translated as the War of Revival/Redemption/Rebirth or Resurrection, none of which accurately describes the war that ended in a ceasefire on October 9, 2025, along with the exchange of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip for Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel.
US emissaries in Israel
However, the last week has also seen a succession of senior US emissaries, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, followed by Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, arriving in Israel.
Formally, these visits were designed to coordinate with Israel the American activities toward the establishment of an international body to administer the Gaza Strip and its Palestinian population until a permanent governing body will be set up, and to inaugurate a special American military headquarters in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat to initiate the process.
However, cynics in Israel described the arrivals as glorified babysitters whose job was to watch over Netanyahu and his coalition in order to prevent them from adopting any measures that might interfere with the implementation of the next stage in President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip.
For example, the government was reprimanded, by both Vance and Rubio, for allowing the Knesset last Wednesday to pass two private members’ bills in preliminary reading, calling for annexations of territories in “the West Bank” (the term used by Vance).
Those of us who believed that the Israel-Hamas War should have ended long ago – in order to hasten the return of all the hostages and because the goal of the total destruction and banishment of Hamas seemed illusive – were naturally delighted with Trump’s commitment to force the reluctant Netanyahu to put an end to the war, and the procession of senior US emissaries was therefore welcomed.
Unfortunately, while all the emissaries expressed optimism and confidence that Trump’s peace plan can be implemented successfully, so far nothing that has been said or done in the field of organization suggests that this is the case.
Perhaps the general outline of the plan is more realistic than Trump’s previous idea of establishing a modern Riviera in a Gaza Strip denuded of its Palestinian population, which would be encouraged to migrate elsewhere, but there seem to be too many issues in the new plan that have not been thought out to the end.
For example, the plan speaks of the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, which in its current state is certainly an urgent necessity. Yet, who is to decide what the reconstruction should consist of or look like? Should the refugee camps be reconstructed, or should the reconstruction involve the final resolution of the refugee problem?
Furthermore, to what extent will Israel’s interests and concerns be taken into account?
Were such questions raised in the talks between the American visitors and Netanyahu? If they were not, when will they be?
The writer has written journalistic and academic articles, as well as several books, on international relations, Zionism, Israeli politics, and parliamentarism. In 1994-2010, she worked in the Knesset Library and the Knesset Research and Information Center.