Throughout modern history, treaties and agreements have served as the foundation of international diplomacy, establishing a framework of mutual commitments. However, Israel has positioned itself uniquely as the only nation that consistently renegotiates agreements — often unilaterally — while blaming the other party for refusing to accept its ever-changing terms.
Israel’s approach has been marked by a predictable strategy: secure an agreement, insist later on altering its terms, and then accuse the Palestinians of obstruction when they refuse to comply with the revised conditions. This tactic has been a recurring feature in nearly every accord brokered by the US between Israel and other parties.
Take, for example, the 1993 Oslo Accords, which were meant to establish a framework for a two-state solution, with Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognising each other. However, Israel has since unilaterally altered its commitments, expanding illegal Jew-only colonies and imposing restrictions that undermine the agreement’s original intent. For over 30 years since Oslo, successive Israeli governments have insisted repeatedly on renegotiating previously agreed-upon issues after every election. When Palestinian leaders refuse to concede, they are labelled as obstacles to peace, perpetuating an endless cycle of negotiations with no end in sight.
In fact, the then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir openly admitted this strategy in a 1992 interview.
He said that he would stall negotiations while expanding Jew-only colonies on Palestinian land, creating irreversible facts on the ground, and ultimately altering the demographics of the occupied West Bank.
It was the same when US President George W Bush proposed a so-called Roadmap to Peace in 2003, adopted by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, and accepted by the Palestinian Authority. The plan outlined a phased approach to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, Israel imposed new preconditions demanding that Palestinians must recognise Israel, yet again, but now as a specifically Jewish state. When Palestinians objected to the new Israeli demands, they were blamed for the lack of progress on the Roadmap.
Most recently, Israel did the same in Lebanon when refusing to withdraw fully within the stipulated 60 days under the US- and French-mediated agreement. Ditto when it violated existing agreements with Syria in the north.
The Israeli strategy extends beyond merely altering agreements — it is a calculated effort left unchallenged by Western media and governments — to shift blame onto the Palestinians and other negotiating parties. This diplomatic gaslighting serves two primary functions: justifying Israeli breaches of agreements and delegitimising the opposing side’s grievances.
Israel’s ability to violate agreements repeatedly while deflecting blame is largely enabled by unconditional US support and a complacent international community.
As a result, Israel pursues its objectives with little regard for any consequences. This unwavering diplomatic and financial backing shields Israel from accountability, allowing it to act with impunity. Despite its violations of international law and repeated breaches of agreements, Israel faces little or no repercussions. This dynamic not only emboldens Israel, but also makes the diplomatic process aimless and the US role as mediator worthless.
After securing the release of the maximum number of Israeli captives under phase one of the current ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu has actively sought to provoke the Palestinian Resistance into responding to Israeli violations. First, by blocking food and medical aid from reaching the besieged Strip, and second, by escalating daily attacks that have killed scores of civilians. Last Saturday, 15 March, Israeli forces targeted a relief team in northern Gaza, killing nine people, including three journalists. This week has seen renewed air strikes across Gaza, killing more than 500 civilians in a matter of hours.
Israel acts with impunity because the mediators — the US, Egypt and Qatar — failed to uphold their responsibilities. What value does the US bring as a mediator if Israel can violate US-brokered agreements and flout verbal assurances without consequence? This unchecked behaviour should cast serious doubt on the US administration’s credibility as a trustworthy mediator.
The negotiated agreement called for the full exchange of all Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners and an end to Israel’s aggression. However, rather than honouring its commitments, Israel has resorted to starvation and the killing of women and children as a bargaining chip to impose new terms.
Instead of holding Israel accountable and ensuring the delivery of food and medical aid as stipulated in the negotiated agreement, the US — the primary mediator of the ceasefire — has abandoned its role as an honest broker. By aligning with Israel’s demands to renegotiate the terms, Washington has emboldened Israel’s brazen intransigence and given it a pretext to resume its genocide in Gaza. In fact, the White House confirmed that it gave the rogue state the green light to resume its air strikes.
Israel’s pattern of renegotiating agreements while blaming the other party is a rare anomaly in global diplomacy.
The international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable for not honouring agreements as originally signed has only encouraged its disregard for the law of nations. With unwavering US support, Israeli leaders have little incentive to adhere to international norms, knowing that they can manipulate the narrative, reframe discourse, shift blame and rely on diplomatic cover from America. This cycle of broken promises and shifting goalposts does not lead to reconciliation, it perpetuates confrontation and conflict.
Meanwhile, as President Donald Trump presents himself as a peacemaker demanding a ceasefire in Ukraine, his position on Gaza tells a different story; it is one that promotes war and destruction. Writing on social media on 15 February, Trump effectively gave Israel the green light to resume its genocide, declaring that the United States “will back the decision they [Israel] make!”
This juxtaposition exposes the hypocrisy of a US president who ostensibly preaches peace in Ukraine while his administration wages a proxy war on behalf of Israel against Yemen, and enables genocide in Gaza.
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