Netanyahu Lashes Out at Gallant as Gantz Warns of Civil War in Israel
Israel's prime minister wants to drag the U.S. into war with Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Yoav Gallant of making “anti-Israel” comments when news reports leaked that the defense head called claims of “absolute victory” over Hamas “gibberish.”
Gallant reportedly made the comments during a classified meeting with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Tel Aviv on Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Gallant’s comments came while being pressed on why Israel has yet to open up a new front against Hezbollah in the north. Gallant said he supported a preemptive strike on Hezbollah in the days after the Hamas attack in October, but his opinion changed as the Gaza conflict unfolded.
“I hear all the heroes with the war drums, ‘absolute victory,’ and all that gibberish. I saw that courage when it came down to the discussion,” he said according to The Times of Israel.
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Netanyahu and Gallant have had a tense relationship during the Gaza genocide. Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s 32-year-old son in Miami, reposted a clip in May that appears to show a masked IDF troop warning about a mutiny against Gallant for not going far enough in Gaza.
Netanyahu has clashed with military officials for months about the trajectory of the war. In June, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, admitted to an Israeli broadcaster that a total defeat of Hamas is not possible, angering Netanyahu.
“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear—it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public. Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of people—whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong,” Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13, according to Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu’s office responded to Hagari’s comments by reasserting its claim that its goal in Gaza is the “destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.”
“The IDF, of course, is committed to this,” the office said, according to CNN.
Netanyahu has been intentionally vague on his idea of “total victory” over Hamas. Is it killing every member of Hamas, or killing every Palestinian in Gaza? How does the Israeli government know who is a member of Hamas and who is not?
Benny Gantz, the Israeli opposition leader, said Netanyahu has put his fragile coalition above the security of the Israeli people. He said if Israelis “do not come to our senses, there will be a civil war here... It is forbidden to hide the truth,” according to Al Mayadeen.
Massive protests have materialized in Israel and the Netanyahu government has called those calling for a hostage deal traitors intent on “stabbing the nation and its soldiers in the back.”
In an opinion piece by Uri Misgav, Israeli Democrats Must Get Ready for the Civil War, he wrote:
In January 2023, a horrible new government came to power. Its leader set for it four goals—security and governance, Iran, the cost of living, and normalization with Saudi Arabia. A year later, the results are in. Today, the government is busy ensuring a lengthy war in Gaza and on the northern border, and setting the West Bank aflame. We have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow of “total victory” and Education Minister Yoav Kisch’s dancing at the scene of an attack while shouting, “We won’t stop till victory.”
TRENDPOST: Since Netanyahu returned to office as prime minister, The Trends Journal reported extensively on how his political career was hanging in the balance before the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. He faced corruption charges that could bring a prison sentence, he faced 39 weeks of historic weekly protests against the judicial overhaul that some analysts felt could explode into a civil war, and his relationship with Washington was souring because of his aggressive, pro-settler stance in the West Bank.