The main points were reported by the media on Wednesday: Even before Hamas responded to the Netanyahu-Biden proposal, the Prime Minister’s Office already knew what it would contain. Hamas’ flexibility came as a surprise to the man who said he supported the plan (which had been unanimously approved by the war cabinet) but who never expected to implement it. He therefore saw a clear and present danger to his government’s survival – and that is priority No. 1 for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Thus, hours before Hamas’ answer was due, an unnamed individual in the PMO describing himself as a “senior security official” rushed to hold a briefing for journalists in which he asserted that Hamas “refuses to budge on its principal point, which is to prevent Israel to resume fighting after the first phase, something that Israel will never accept.”

The PMO has no security official, except for the military secretary who is not authorized to make such statements. Hiding behind this fake identity is fraud and hypocrisy of the most despicable kind. Journalists are forbidden from exposing this lie, but that is a story for another time.

While what occurred here was the political and malicious use of sensitive intelligence material, a stunt like this was nothing new for the prime minister. In his eagerness to put a spoke into the wheels of any deal, he arranged a briefing without even first convening or even calling the small forum that has replaced the war cabinet for fear that the majority would oppose his position. Such a majority exists.