If the world needed yet another proof that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hijacked Israel into a permanent and expanding war, last night’s confrontation with Israel’s security establishment should underline that reality. Netanyahu has gone beyond lying to hostage families and bureaucrats in Washington.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to the Times of Israel, presented the security cabinet meeting last night with a document that he drew up in recent days, urging a hostage-ceasefire deal and detailing the potentially dire consequences for Israel of a failure to finalize such an agreement. The Times of Israel cited a Channel 12 report that Gallant’s document represents the view of the Israeli security establishment, and that Gallant had first presented it to Netanyahu and other top officials prior to last night’s security cabinet meeting. Times of Israel also reports that, at the meeting, Netanyahu heavily criticized the security establishment, blaming them for decades of failure to protect Israel.
Gallant’s document states that it aims to enable a diplomatic arrangement to calm hostilities with Hezbollah across the northern border and prevent regional war. It could also increase the likelihood that Iran would shelve plans to avenge the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month. But if Israel doesn’t move forward on the deal, it would not only leave the hostages in captivity, but Israel would face the danger of an “imminent deterioration into a multi-front war.”
Further, Israel’s security chiefs are widely reported to have assured Netanyahu that Israel can afford to withdraw troops from both Gaza’s Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors in the context of such a deal. However, Netanyahu has adamantly rejected their assessment.
