Levy said Netanyahu had assessed his room for manoeuvre with the Trump administration before deciding to act.
According to the White House, Israel informed the US about Tuesday’s attack on Gaza before it happened.
Levy pointed out that the Trump administration made Netanyahu “nervous enough at the very outset” that he agreed to the terms of a ceasefire which he had rejected for months.
Under the more difficult second phase, both sides were supposed to establish a permanent ceasefire, with remaining living hostages in Gaza exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces would also need to withdraw its troops from the enclave.
But negotiations stalled. Israel then blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza, after backing a new proposal by the US for a temporary ceasefire during the Ramadan and Passover periods.
“For now, the US is aligned with Israel’s shifting of the goal posts,” said Levy.
Mayroz said the Americans “hold the key” as they are “the only ones to stop Netanyahu’s launch back into war and support the Israeli public that doesn’t want to go back into war”.
Thousands protested outside Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday, calling for the return of hostages and the safeguarding of democracy.
“A lot of (Israel’s) reservists who are supposed to be part of any kind of future ground assault are saying that they will refuse to go back in because this is not helping the release of the hostages,” Mayroz said.
“But again, all the cards are in the hands of Trump – and at the moment, he seems to be supporting Israeli violence side by side with his own (agenda) against the Houthis in Yemen.”
