By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin By — Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/israeli-leaders-increasingly-divided-over-hamas-war-and-prospect-of-two-state-solution Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio As the war in Gaza nears the four-month mark since the Hamas attacks in Israel, the shape of the debate inside that nation has become ever starker. Around 130 hostages are still held, the world is increasingly outraged at the Palestinian death toll inflicted by Israel and there are clear disagreements with Washington as the Israeli prime minister says he'll stay the course. Nick Schifrin reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: As the war in Gaza nears four months since the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, the shape of the debate inside that nation has become even starker, around 130 hostages still held, a world increasingly outraged at the Palestinian death toll, and clear disagreements with Washington, as the Israeli prime minister says he will stay the course.Nick Schifrin reports. Nick Schifrin: Israeli politics is always a contact sport, but, today, in an Israeli Parliament committee meeting, the families of hostages held in Gaza erupted. Man (through interpreter): I ask you, if these were your children, what would you have done? Nick Schifrin: Hostage families are increasingly challenging the government, including outside Prime Minister Netanyahu's house. They want to prioritize their loved ones over prosecuting the war in Gaza. That debate is now inside Israel's war cabinet.Gadi Eisenkot is a war cabinet observer and former army chief. In December, his son Gal was killed fighting in Gaza. He promised to make the right decisions for those who have sacrificed. Last week, he criticized Netanyahu and said the best way to release the hostages was a cease-fire. Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli War Cabinet Member (through interpreter): It is impossible to return the hostages alive in the near future without a deal. And whoever is selling lies to the public, then he's selling lies. There's no other way to put it. Nick Schifrin: Publicly, Netanyahu has rejected any deal that would require Israel to stop the war and its effort to uncover Hamas tunnels that it says hid hostages, including this one under the Southern Gaza City of Khan Yunis. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through interpreter): I utterly reject the Hamas monsters' capitulation terms. Only total victory will ensure the elimination of Hamas and the return of all our hostages. Nick Schifrin: But U.S. officials say there are negotiations over a longer pause in exchange for the release of most, if not all, of the hostages.Joe Biden , President of the United States: There are a number of two-state solutions. Nick Schifrin: There's also a longer term Netanyahu disagreement with the U.S. On Friday, President Biden reiterated he believed Israel's security would be best guaranteed by a two-state solution. But Question: But Bibi said he's opposed to a two-state solution. Joe Biden : No, he didn't say no. He didn't say that. Nick Schifrin: But, over the weekend, Netanyahu made clear, at least publicly, that is exactly what he said. Benjamin Netanyahu (through interpreter): My insistence is what prevented for years the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would impose an existential danger to Israel. As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to firmly stand by it. John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: It's the president's view that a two-state solution is the best path forward. Nick Schifrin: Today, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby once again put the onus on Israel. John Kirby: It's going to require leadership on all sides in the region as well, and it's going to require leadership there. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Jan 22, 2024 By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin By — Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi Zeba Warsi is a foreign affairs producer, based in Washington DC. She's a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism. She was one of the leading members of the NewsHour team that won the 2024 Peabody award for News for our coverage of the war in Gaza and Israel. @Zebaism