Netanyahu on a mission to maintain power, shore up support
Israel’s Netanyahu has spent the past several weeks maneuvering to maintain power and shore up public support amid attacks from political rivals, pressure from the Biden administration, and growing international criticism of his handling of the war.
In an apparent effort to play to his right-wing base, Netanyahu publicly broke this week with President Biden and rejected any talk of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He called the Oslo peace agreement, which established the Palestinian Authority in 1994 and gave it the power to govern the West Bank and Gaza, a “mistake” that should not be repeated. The statement was a blunt rebuke of Biden, who has called for a “revamped” Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after Hamas is defeated.
Netanyahu’s move follows a long-running pattern of the Israeli leader making hard-line statements for his own political gain, according to current and former Israeli officials, who asked not to be named.
U.S. and Israeli officials told NBC News that they fear Netanyahu has adopted some positions in the war against Hamas to prolong his own political survival.
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An Israeli teen lost his father and brother in the Hamas attacks; an American boy was inspired to take action
OFAKIM, ISRAEL — In a bomb shelter festooned with Israeli flags and colorful plastic bunting, children who lost parents in the Hamas attacks on Israel danced, sang and ate jelly donuts, courtesy of a young Californian boy who forged an unlikely bond with the devastated community.
At the center of Thursday’s bittersweet Hanukkah celebration was 13-year-old Ori Ohayon, whose father, Moshe, 52, and older brother, Eliad, 23, were killed when they confronted militants storming their small, conservative hometown of Ofakim in southern Israel. His mom Sarit and siblings Amitai, Yair, Shira, and Uri also survived.
Moshe and Eliad were among 48 people killed in…
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