There was great discontent in Tel Aviv regarding President Joe Biden's speech and his presentation of the details of the new "Israeli" proposal for a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli media describing it as a "weak speech," while other sources "condemned" the revelation of the proposal's details which are still under preliminary discussions.

On Friday, Biden announced at a press conference at the White House that Israel had presented a three-phase proposal that includes a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of detainees, and the reconstruction of the sector.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the speech was met with discontent in Tel Aviv, where it was considered a weak speech that ignores Hamas's refusal.

The newspaper also pointed out a notable paradox during Biden's speech, as the American president called upon Tel Aviv, even pleading with it to accept this offer, despite his announcement that the proposal is originally Israeli.

While Channel 12 described it as a "speech of the end of the war," stating that Biden presented the real outlines for ending the war, not just a ceasefire and an agreement on the release of the hostages.

For its part, Maariv described the speech as "Biden's political bomb," by announcing the outlines of the Israeli proposal that Tel Aviv recently presented to the mediators.

According to Yedioth, Biden's speech "exposed Tel Aviv's deception" by agreeing in the new proposal to a ceasefire without announcing it clearly.

Channel 13 confirmed this, indicating that in Israel they were surprised by the details presented by Biden, as censorship had prevented the publication of the proposal details that were approved by the war council and presented to the mediators.

Channel 12 mentioned that Biden addressed the Israeli public directly in a "dramatic" speech, attempting to influence them directly, bypassing Netanyahu and the right-wing ministers who would seek to undermine the success of the negotiations.

In his speech, "the American president traveled at 200 km/h against the extremists in Netanyahu's government" (and this expression is from Yedioth Ahronoth), who want, according to him, for "the war to continue forever" and "to occupy Gaza," in reference to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Channel 12 stated that the American president "recognizes that there are political elements in the government who extort Netanyahu, control Netanyahu, and warns us against yielding to those dangerous elements."

Channel 12 also spoke about the secret of the timing, indicating that it was not coincidental, as the channel believes the timing was chosen with the onset of Saturday for Jews, forcing Smotrich and Ben Gvir not to comment directly.

The speech also coincides with the threat made by Benny Gantz to withdraw from the war session, which is new pressure on Netanyahu to accept Gantz's conditions in the discussion the day after the war on Gaza, according to the channel.

The new proposal

On Friday, Biden announced at a press conference at the White House a new Israeli proposal in three phases, with the first phase lasting six weeks and including "a complete and comprehensive ceasefire, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas in Gaza."

The first phase also includes "the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the injured, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners" in Israeli prisons.

Biden noted that the second phase includes "the release of the remaining hostages and soldiers and the continuation of the ceasefire, while the third phase includes post-war reconstruction of Gaza."

Biden's comments on this proposal come despite Israel's earlier rejection of another proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar, which Hamas and Palestinian factions announced their acceptance of on May 6.

The Egyptian-Qatari proposal included terms similar to what Biden discussed, in that it is a proposal implemented in phases culminating in a prisoner exchange and ceasefire, but Israel rejected it at the time, claiming it "does not meet its demands," confirming that it will continue the war on Gaza until achieving what it calls "a crushing victory."

On the same day, Israel began a military operation on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, taking control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing the following day.

Tel Aviv has also recently expressed skepticism about the "impartiality" of the Egyptian and Qatari mediators in these talks, which prompted Qatar to "ignore it." Meanwhile, Egypt warned that skepticism about its mediation "might lead it to withdraw" from it.

Through the mediation of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, Hamas and Israel have been engaging in stalled indirect negotiations for months, aiming to reach an agreement for a prisoner exchange and to stop the war on Gaza, which erupted on October 7, 2023.

Over two days, Cairo hosted the last round of negotiations, before the delegations of Hamas and Israel left the Egyptian capital on May 9 without announcing any agreement reached.

The Israeli war on Gaza has resulted in more than 118,000 Palestinians being killed or injured, most of whom are children and women, and around 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

Israel continues this war, ignoring a decision from the Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire, and orders from the International Court demanding it to stop its attack on Rafah and to take immediate measures to prevent acts of "genocide," and to "improve the humanitarian situation" in Gaza.