Netanyahu’s post-war Gaza plan looks dead on arrival

Israel’s government has finally begun to turn its attention to what happens once the war in Gaza is over. The ‘basic contours’ of a hostage deal – and possible second Gaza ceasefire – continue to take shape, with further talks set to take place this week in Qatar’s capital Doha between Israel’s intelligence services, the United States, and Hamas via Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for post-war Gaza has been a long time coming, with his government constantly dogged by the question of what its goals are beyond destroying Hamas and what the endgame for the Palestinians might look like.

You would think that with such high demand the recent release of a one-page official proposal for a ‘day after’ blueprint for Gaza from the prime minister’s office, already presented to Israel’s security cabinet, would have prompted reams of analysis and comment. But the relatively mute response, including the obligatory boiler-plate rejection from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, reflects how short Netanyahu’s lifespan in power is assumed to be.

In an alternate reality in which Netanyahu somehow doesn’t end up leaving office once the war ends or a prolonged ceasefire is agreed, his proposals call for Israel to maintain security control over all land west of Jordan, including the West Bank and Gaza – those territories in which the Palestinians wish to create an independent state.