Israeli PM gives full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser after he sparked outrage with stiff-armed gesture.

The Israeli Cabinet was set to meet Thursday to approve a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas in Gaza brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, raising hopes for the end of a 15-month war which killed tens of thousands of people.

Poland joined other EU countries in allowing the Israeli leader entry without threat of arrest, this time for a ceremony commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz — which Netanyahu had no intention of attending anyway.

The deal was set to be ratified by the Israeli Cabinet on Thursday. But Netanyahu says, without specifying, that Hamas has gone back on several parts of the ceasefire deal at the last minute.

The Israeli prime minister has to navigate complicated domestic politics with his aim of destroying Hamas and the need to keep the US on side.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended Elon Musk after media outlets described a gesture that the Tesla CEO made at President Trump’s inauguration rally as a Nazi salute.

The problem for Netanyahu is Netanyahu. Consumed by the desire to stay in power, he has been wedged between overwhelming public demand for the hostages to be released, and those who keep him in power—his coalition partners.

Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel ... is always a good transatlantic relationship," he wrote on X. "The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union."

When asked whether the Gaza ceasefire will hold, President Donald Trump declared that he wasn't confident. He might as well be talking about his pet diplomatic project in the Middle East.

Israel said it will maintain control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas. A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.

In a post on social media, Netanyahu said that Musk is being “falsely smeared” and suggested that Musk’s support of Israel is proof that he isn’t antisemitic — even as numerous Jewish and anti-hate groups and observers have said that Musk’s now-infamous salute was clearly a Nazi salute.