Aside from US Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s disastrous session yesterday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he also had separate meetings with National Unity party leader Benny Gantz and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. The only real reason for such meetings would be the immediate need to bring down Netanyahu and form a new coalition government. However, what was said publicly regarding the meetings was rather tame.
Lapid commented favorably about Blinken’s group, after his meeting: “It’s good to see how committed this group is to the hostages, to solving the situation, to figure out ways to promote peace.” He has been involved in trying to get Netanyahu to hold back from a relentless military campaign for the immediate priority of getting the hostages back alive. He tweeted that Netanyahu can have his cake and eat it too, if he will listen to reason: “The whole Israeli society is determined to bring back the hostages and to eradicate Hamas. Those are not conflicting goals and we will not give up either.”
