Former MI6 boss says Netanyahu will ‘wait for US election’ before considering ceasefire

Former MI6 boss says Netanyahu will 'wait for US election' before considering ceasefireSource: Sky News

Transcript

00:00Big question, of course, that arises out of all of this is,

00:02does it make a ceasefire more or less likely?

00:06What do you reckon?

00:08Well, in Gaza, I'm not sure it changes things a great deal.

00:13The Israelis feel that they've got both Hamas and Hezbollah

00:17and, to some extent, Iran as well on the back foot.

00:19They want to press home their advantage.

00:22I see that some members, the far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition,

00:26are saying that we shouldn't ease off,

00:28we should keep pressing forward.

00:30The one encouraging sign in this is that Netanyahu has himself now

00:35promoted or highlighted the situation of the hostages.

00:41I think that is now a big political goal for him.

00:45But it's very difficult for him, with his present political setup,

00:49to make concessions to Hamas that he wasn't prepared to make before.

00:54And Hamas will now be looking for a new leadership.

00:56I don't think it's likely that a more moderate,

01:00compromising leadership is going to emerge.

01:02There's going to be a struggle between factions within Hamas

01:05and the hard-aligned factions are likely to emerge.

01:08And that's without mentioning the US election dynamic.

01:11I doubt if Netanyahu will want to give a success to the Biden-Harris

01:16administration just two weeks before the election,

01:19where he would probably prefer Donald Trump to emerge on top.