The majority of Israelis reject the terms of an emerging deal with the Hamas terrorist organization to release some of the remaining 120 hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hundreds of convicted terrorists.
David Ignatius of the Washington Post reported Wednesday evening that a ceasefire deal is “within reach.” The terms include an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip — including the strategic Philadelphi corridor along the Egyptian border — in return for the release of 33 hostages, including all 18 female hostages, and 15 bodies of dead hostages.
Hamas has also reportedly dropped a demand for an Israeli agreement to a permanent long-term ceasefire in Gaza.
Sweetening the deal, supposedly, is an offer by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist army in southern Lebanon, to agree to stop firing at Israel and to remove its forces from the border, in compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1707 of 2006. And Saudi Arabia is reported to be offering normalized relations with Israel as part of the deal. (These claims may reflect the rosy hopes of Biden administration sources rather than diplomatic reality.)
Still, Israelis are divided on the deal, with a majority rejecting the terms. The Jewish News Syndicate reported:
Fifty-seven percent of Israelis oppose the U.S.-mediated deal being negotiated with Hamas, according to a JNS/Direct Polls survey of public opinion carried out on July 9.
Thirty-three percent support the prospective agreement.
…
Meanwhile, 70% of residents of southern Israel, where Hamas perpetrated its Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people, expressed opposition to such a deal, with 24% approving and the rest saying they do not know.
The only groups within Israel who support the potential deal are those who support Israel’s opposition parties, according to the poll.
The issue of a hostage deal has become politicized, with those who oppose Netanyahu’s government using the issue to demand new elections, claiming that he is standing in the way of a deal. They have staged noisy weekly protests in Tel Aviv and elsewhere; the silent majority, however, appears to disagree with them.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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