Jared Kushner, U.S. special envoy, said that elections next month for the Knesset have caused the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to act “somewhat irrationally” in the Gaza case.

At a press conference in Kyiv, he said: “I think we agree with the Israelis on the final status of Gaza. They just have a crazy election, and it makes them a bit irrational in some ways.”

The United States is trying to advance a plan for a Peace Council to disarm Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, alongside Israel’s withdrawal.

Israel has opposed the plan, stalled it, and it is unlikely that Hamas will be disarmed before the Knesset vote on 5 Aban.