Washington’s Shadow: Netanyahu Bends to U.S. Pressure in Rafah Terrorist Deal.
As Israelis grow convinced Washington is calling the shots, the Prime Minister’s Office confirms “coordination” with Trump officials over fate of 200 Hamas terrorists trapped underground
The Israeli government’s uneasy alliance with Washington took center stage again Monday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, after a full day of denials, finally confirmed that Jerusalem is, in fact, “coordinating” with the Trump administration over what to do with the roughly 200 Hamas terrorists still trapped inside the Rafah tunnel network.
The admission followed an Israeli Democracy Institute poll showing that nearly half of Israelis believe the United States, not Israel, now holds the reins of the nation’s security policy.
According to leaks from a senior member of the Security Cabinet cited by Ynet, Netanyahu and Trump’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, reached a controversial understanding: the trapped Hamas fighters would be exiled rather than eliminated, provided a host country could be found willing to take them.
So far, not one nation has volunteered.
Breaking:
— ME24 - Middle East 24 (@MiddleEast_24) November 11, 2025
U.S. and Israel Agree to Deport 200 Hamas Fighters Trapped in Rafah Tunnels
The United States and Israel have reached an agreement permitting the 200 Hamas militants trapped inside the Rafah tunnel network to leave, under the condition that they are deported to a third… pic.twitter.com/YakUr6nxGh
Backpedaling in Real Time
The political firestorm erupted after opposition leader Avigdor Liberman published a brutal timeline of government contradictions on X (formerly Twitter):
9:50 – “Revealed: Netanyahu committed to the Americans that he would release the terrorists from Rafah.”
10:31 – “Netanyahu’s office denies it.”
17:39 – “A ‘senior official’ confirms that Netanyahu will release the terrorists.”“Both a liar and dangerous,” Liberman wrote. “He must go!”
Within hours, the Prime Minister’s Office pivoted from categorical denial to a carefully worded confirmation that any decision regarding the Rafah terrorists “will be made in coordination with the Trump administration.”
In Israel’s security establishment, “coordination” has become a polite euphemism for concession.
9:50 - חשפתי: נתניהו התחייב לאמריקנים שהוא ישחרר את המחבלים מרפיח.
— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) November 11, 2025
10:31 - לשכת נתניהו מכחישה.
17:39 - "גורם מדיני" מאשר שנתניהו ישחרר את המחבלים.
גם שקרן, גם מסוכן. הוא חייב ללכת!
The Kushner Connection
The clarification came after Netanyahu’s closed-door meeting in Jerusalem with Jared Kushner, the influential son-in-law and special envoy of President Donald Trump. According to U.S. and Israeli sources, the two discussed the broader framework for ending the Gaza war, including Hamas’s full disarmament, the permanent demilitarization of the Strip, and an unequivocal guarantee that Hamas will never again rule Gaza.
Kushner, accompanied by billionaire envoy Steve Witkoff, who is expected to join the talks later this week, has made the Rafah tunnel standoff a focal point of Washington’s postwar vision. American officials have privately signaled that they favor allowing the terrorists “safe passage” out of the tunnels, following last week’s recovery of Lt. Hadar Goldin’s body, an Israeli soldier murdered in 2014 and held in Gaza for eleven agonizing years.
Saudi outlet Al Arabiya reports Jared Kushner met with anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab to discuss Gaza operations and the possible exit of 200 Hamas members from Rafah. pic.twitter.com/AqQnl1h88D
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 11, 2025
(NOTE: The U.S. State Department has denied that Kushner met with Gaza Militia leader.)
A Clash of Sovereignties
Inside the Prime Minister’s Office, aides are walking a tightrope between appeasing Washington and placating furious coalition partners demanding a show of force. For weeks, Netanyahu insisted Israel would never grant safe passage to terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre, men whose hands are stained with the blood of Israeli civilians.
But as international pressure mounts, that red line appears to be fading fast.
Critics argue that even entertaining the idea of exile, rather than execution or capture, undermines Israeli deterrence and rewards Hamas’s strategy of human shields and blackmail. Supporters of the American position counter that the move could hasten the formal end of hostilities and pave the way for reconstruction under a post-Hamas civilian administration.
Yet, for many Israelis, it feels like déjà vu, a painful echo of foreign meddling dressed as diplomacy.
Public Trust on the Brink
The optics are devastating. A prime minister who rose to power vowing never to repeat Oslo now finds himself accused of outsourcing national security decisions to Washington.
As the poll numbers reveal, Israelis are watching with growing unease as their nation’s sovereignty is quietly bartered away in backroom meetings and “coordinations.”
Whether the Rafah terrorists live or die may ultimately hinge not on Israel’s resolve, but on America’s will.
And that, for many Israelis, is the most dangerous development of all.
