US, Saudis close in on historic defence pact; Blinken meets Netanyahu and heads for Gaza

A handout photo made available by Israel's Government Press Office shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, 1 May 2024.

Such a deal would potentially reshape the Middle East. Beyond bolstering Israel and Saudi Arabia’s security, it would strengthen the US’s position in the region at the expense of Iran and even China. From the Israeli side, Netanyahu leads the most right-wing government in the country’s history and has all but ruled out a two-state solution. His coalition says it still plans to attack the Gazan city of Rafah, which the US and Arab states fear would lead to thousands more deaths among Palestinian civilians.

On one side was hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir saying if Israel doesn’t invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Netanyahu “understands perfectly well what that means”. On the other were centrist ministers labelling that “blackmail”. Even if Netanyahu manages to keep his government together, recent days have underlined the challenges.

Netanyahu appears to be trying to have it both ways. On Tuesday, he told a meeting of hostage families and relatives of soldiers killed in the fighting that “the idea that Israel will stop the war before achieving all its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — with or without a deal.

Yair Lapid, head of the Israeli opposition, said he’d spoken to Blinken and told him that “Netanyahu has no political excuse not to go to the deal for the return of the abductees. He has a majority in the people, he has a majority in the Knesset and if necessary I will make sure he has a majority in the government.”

South Africa filed its case at the International Court of Justice in December. The following month, the court told Israel that it must act to prevent the killing and harm to innocent Palestinians in an interim ruling that stopped short of demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Asked on Tuesday what would happen if there was no deal, White House spokesperson John Kirby said, “There just has to be.”

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