Jewish House Democrats: Netanyahu will impede ceasefire for political purposes
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler said the U.S. will ‘make sure phase two occurs’
Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman, Democrats from New York, on Feb 02. Photo by JCRC-NY and Jacob Kornbluh
By Jacob Kornbluh February 3, 2025
Jewish House Democrats warned Jewish leaders on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will, for political purposes, impede talks to expand the ceasefire-hostage deal that would end the war in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages. It comes on the heels of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
“We need to either keep the pressure on,” Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat from New York, said in remarks at the annual legislative breakfast hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. “We are going to run into some problems with this deal because if phase two is completed, it very well may mean the end of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition. And so he very well may enter a decision point where he has to choose his own power or the ceasefire and the hostages.”
The Trump administration is hoping to finalize a deal that would end the more than yearlong war in Gaza that started with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks on Israel, and move to expand the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia.
Negotiations are set to begin this week on a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza following a six-week pause in fighting and the release of at least 38 hostages, including five Thai nationals. The gaps between the two sides appear nearly insurmountable. Hamas seeks to remain in power in Gaza, while Israel refuses to end the war as long as Hamas governs the devastated enclave. Netanyahu’s conservative coalition partners have threatened to quit the government if he moves to the second phase of the original agreement. If talks fail, fighting in the Gaza Strip would likely resume, potentially reigniting pro-Palestinian protests across the city and on college campuses.
What members of Congress are saying
Rep. Jerry Nadler, the dean of the Congressional Jewish Caucus, cited what many Mideast experts consider that the formal recognition of an independent Palestinian state is a crucial condition for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel as part of a post-war regional peace plan. “I don’t believe the war can end unless there is a believable commitment to a two-state solution,” Nadler said. “And, unfortunately, I do not believe the current Israeli government is committed either to ending the war, to implementing phases two and three or the two-state solution.”
The Democratic congressman said that American Jews and the administration “have to push” for a two-state solution “in the context of the ceasefire,” referencing Israel’s national anthem with the words, Od lo avdah tikvatenu — “our hope is not lost yet.”
Nadler and Goldman, since Oct. 2023, have both urged Israel to take “humanitarian pauses” in its military campaign against Hamas to allow deliveries of essential supplies and to give Palestinian civilians time to relocate to safer areas. Their views on the conflict reflect a mainstream Democratic distaste for Netanyahu’s leadership.
The breakfast was attended by most of the members of the New York City’s delegation, who are Democrats. Rep, Mike Lawler, a Republican from Rockland County, joked at the beginning of his remarks that he was pleased to “address a meeting of the New York Democratic Committee. Lawler, who now serves as chair of the influential House Middle East and North Africa subcommittee and is an ally of House Speaker Mike Johnson, pledged, “We will make sure phase two occurs because that is paramount” to returning all the hostages.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who will meet with Netanyahu as part of a bipartisan group of congressional leaders, told the crowd on Sunday that U.S. leaders need to remain “steadfast” in a bipartisan manner to ensure “that every single hostage is returned home – in phase one and beyond” and “work to achieve a just and lasting peace.” Jeffries went on to the list of the achievements of the war in Gaza — the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the strikes against Iran — “thanks to Israel’s strength and the partnership with the U.S.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, urged Jewish groups “who are very close to the Netanyahu government or spend time in Israel or national security circles” to pressure Netanyahu “to get back to the table on the Abrahamic Alliance.”
“It was his idea before Oct. 7,” Gillibrand continued. ”It is why Oct. 7 happened when it did, because they were weeks away from signing that agreement. So please use your voice and your position to help Israel rebuild.”
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