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US President Barack Obama’s call for an “immediate, unconditional” humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza has strained Israeli-US ties and put Israeli Prime Minister in a spot of bother among hardliners in his government.
According to analysts, Obama’s call for a ceasefire on Sunday was seen as an ultimatum to Netanyahu, as the death toll due to the Israeli violence in Gaza neared 1,050. The US President called on the Israeli Prime Minister to make his “request” while Netanyahu was in a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet; the Israeli premier had to interrupt the meeting to take Obama’s call, military radio reported. The meeting resumed after the call had ended, but no decisions regarding the ceasefire were taken. Israel hasn’t responded to the United States, its main ally, yet.
However, on the ground, Israel seemed to have kept to a de facto ceasefire which was marred by occasional clashes and intermittent missiles before air strikes struck a refugee camp and a hospital compound in Gaza City.
In the past week, US Secretary of State John Kerry tried, in vain, to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas during his trips to the region. Several Israeli commentators have blamed Kerry, a favorite media scapegoat, and criticized him for submitting a permanent ceasefire plan to the Israeli government on Friday. The Israeli security cabinet had unanimously rejected the plan.
The diplomatic tensions between Israel and the US have spilled into the former’s domestic political scene. Netanyahu, who has given the impression that he is ready to accept a ceasefire deal, has drawn major criticism from “hawks” in his government, making his majority that much weaker.
Around 87% of Israelis still support its military operation in Gaza, despite the “heavy” toll it has taken. The current operation has taken the heaviest toll in Israel since its war in Lebanon in 2006.