War or diplomacy: Netanyahu's critical choices and their impact on region

Was the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's appearance on Saturday an attempt to showcase achievements, even if only verbal? Or did this appearance again expose the dilemma of his deteriorating relations with the United States?

In the prisoners' issue, while the final touches were being put on a US-Qatari-Egyptian deal that would lead to the release of several foreign nationals, including six Americans, by Hamas, Netanyahu thwarted the deal by insisting on including the most significant number of Israeli prisoners.

The file has been suspended, awaiting the arrival of the White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk in Tel Aviv in a new American attempt to finalize the exchange.

The dispute also surfaced when Netanyahu insisted on regaining Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip, contrary to Washington's rejection of this demand.

Moreover, contrary to what the US has been emphasizing for at least two weeks, stressing the necessity of the Palestinian Authority's control over Gaza post-war, Netanyahu once again raised "the red flag" against the US administration.

The more serious file is Netanyahu's attempt to drag Lebanon into a major confrontation that could escalate the war to the level of the Middle East—a move entirely rejected by Washington, as previously stated by President Joe Biden, and also unwanted by Tehran.

Nevertheless, by agreement with his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu decided to deploy fifty percent of the army to the Lebanese border, threatening to wage war on Lebanon that will not end until the removal of the forces affiliated with Hezbollah from the borders, aiming to prevent a recurrence of what happened with Hamas on October 7.

Will Netanyahu ignite a war with Lebanon, which may lead the US into a wide-ranging conflict with Iran and its allies?

In the final moments of his political life, Netanyahu cared neither about the future ties with Washington nor any ally. He is ready to drag everyone into a regional war from which no party will emerge as a winner.

"We will do everything to bring back the hostages, and my instructions, along with the cabinet, are clear: there will be no ceasefire without the return of our hostages," Netanyahu stated.

He also said, "There will be no Hamas after the war. There will not be a civil authority that raises its children to hate Israel or kill Israelis and eliminate the state of Israel. Our security control is needed, and I will not back down from that despite the pressures."

The Former Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, stressed that "As time passes, rockets and problems in the north will not disappear. After the Second Lebanon War, there was Resolution 1701, and it was a great deception. We live in a very difficult region, and what cannot be achieved by force must be accomplished by force in another way."

"We are obliged to ensure that Hezbollah does not remain on Israel's borders at the end of this war, and there are several ways to do that," he indicated.