Netanyahu Presents Post-war Plan to Cabinet

The subsequently publicized document, a one-pager released overnight in “Israel”, is largely a collection of principles the Zionist premier has been vocalizing since the beginning of the war, but it is the first time they have formally been presented to the cabinet for approval.

For over four months, Netanyahu has held off holding security cabinet discussions regarding the so-called “day after” the war, fearing this could lead to fractures in his right-wing coalition.

Netanyahu has sufficed with saying that he will not allow the Palestinian Authority to return to govern Gaza. He has sometimes qualified this assertion by saying that “Israel” won’t allow the PA in its current form to return to the Palestinian enclave, indicating that “Israel” could live with a reformed PA of the kind that the Biden administration has been pushing.

Other times, though, Netanyahu has given a more blanket rejection of allowing Gaza to become “Fatahstan” — referring to the political party headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Notably, the document of principles Netanyahu presented to security cabinet ministers at Thursday night’s meeting doesn’t specifically name the PA or rule out its participation in the post-war governance of Gaza.

Instead, it says that civil affairs in Gaza will be run by “local officials” who have “administrative experience” and who aren’t tied to “countries or entities that support terrorism.”

A statement from Netanyahu’s office said the document is based on principles broadly accepted by the public and that it will serve as the basis for future discussions regarding the post-war management of Gaza.