As the battles in Gaza cool down and the battles in the political-diplomatic sphere heat up, Likud prattlers have been sent to defend the actions and comments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to mitigate the force of the crisis with the United States.
The message page comprises babblings and drivel such as "everything is all right": America is always with us, we will decide our own defense policy, the fact that they are directly sending humanitarian aid is all very nice. Let them be busy with that and release us of that headache, and, with God's help, together we will win.
These goods may persuade the base, but will change nothing in Israel's dismal situation. Netanyahu's actions, and especially his failures, have caused a real diplomatic catastrophe. The current situation, which means treading in place with the fighting in Gaza and freezing the terrible situation in Israel's north, when Israel has no credit, no policy and no arms to launch a real war against Hezbollah, as demanded by the decisive majority of the frustrated evacuees from the north.
The same can be said about American aid to Gaza. They expropriated the air space from Israel. They will soon build a temporary pier, which may become permanent, which means the U.S. has effectively broken the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since June 2007. Another achievement by the fully right-wing government.
Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset this week.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
As far as the Americans are concerned, we already are not just criminally late in discussing "the day after," but abominably late in implementing the conclusions of the discussion that Netanyahu refuses to hold. It's not just internal U.S. politics and an election year, the timing and nature of which are predetermined elements for us. It is also a basic perception in Washington: A war waged by a Western country must be purposeful and sagacious. It cannot be waged tactically, without reference to strategic and global issues.
Netanyahu has avoided any such debate, because he has only one strategy, which is unrelated to shaping the diplomatic and military picture, but is solely for the sake of his personal survival. (On Thursday, we heard the Senate majority leader, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Jew and sworn supporter of Israel, say that Israel urgently needs a different coalition to avoid becoming an ostracized country.) At the heart of "no strategy" is Netanyahu's rejection of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah activists in Gaza as part of the solution for the Strip. On this issue, he has already climbed too high on the tree. If he tries to climb down, the "base" will hang him from a branch.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has a completely different outlook, which is wholly realpolitik. Every man in Gaza is carrying an ID card, some from Hamas, some from Fatah. Some carry both, he tends to remark in closed meetings. We, he adds, are busy asking who will govern Gaza the day after; the options, from worst to best, are: Hamas, Israel, chaos, Fatah.
Gallant is frustrated, worried. His position on the matter unifies the defense establishment and the full war cabinet – Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, Arye Dery and Ron Dermer. Only one man is not willing to hear about it. Netanyahu's position is "Just not the PA." What is he for? He's not for anything. His stubbornness and "just so" are harming Israel and isolating it in the world. Such conduct confirms what many think about him: He wants to drag the war out forever for his personal convenience. Not total victory. Total treading in place.
Yariv Levin, seated at left, with Yoav Gallant and Netanyahu in the Knesset last month.Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
In one of his provocative and inflammatory clips against President Joe Biden, Netanyahu claimed that bringing the Palestinian Authority to Gaza would lead to another October 7 massacre. In that way he creates a false narrative that only he can prevent the next massacre. That is a typical Netanyahu attempt to delude the public.
The presence of the PA in one form or another in the Gaza Strip will not endanger Israel – as long as Military Intelligence isn't sleeping, the IDF doesn't screw up, the Shin Bet security service does its work and the prime minister doesn't ignore what is going on in the territory based on a misconstrued concept that he cultivated, a concept that he maliciously pins the blame for on others. In the meantime, the war is dragging on, the IDF's achievements are being eroded and Hamas is regaining strength. Soon we will be back to that familiar "sour" feeling. The hostage crisis is also dragging on; they have now been held in Gaza for 160 days. On Thursday, the prime minister and his wife finally agreed to meet with representatives of the families. The obtuseness displayed by the leadership toward the families, in particular by the Prime Minister's Office and the ministers of the extreme right, has already become a matter of routine.
The political leaders hope that a new hostage proposal will arrive in the coming days and that it will bear fruit. Benny Gantz, speaking at a caucus meeting in the Knesset this week, hinted at this when he said that at some point, soon, "we will have to tell the truth to the public" (referring to a hostage deal). There are constant and varying degrees of tension between the political echelon and those managing the negotiations – the head of the Mossad, the head of the Shin Bet and General (res.) Nitzan Alon. The three want to show greater flexibility, but Netanyahu won't let them. When the proposal is submitted, these differences may reach boiling point. Many defense officials feel that Netanyahu doesn't care about the hostages. They are an obstacle on his path to "complete victory."
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Thursday urging the government to do more to get the hostages freed.Credit: Itai Ron
What an infuriating difference there is between the U.S. government and the Prime Minister's Office and Netanyahu in particular. When the death of the kidnapped soldier Itay Chen (who also held U.S. citizenship) at Nahal Oz on October 7 was announced, his parents, Ruby and Hagit, received phone calls from President Biden and from Vice President Kamala Harris; from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken; and from a host of U.S. Congress members, who met with them during their visit to Washington. Biden, the grieving father, spoke about Itay like a grandfather about his grandson. At the end of the conversation, he gave Ruby the phone number of his personal assistant and encouraged him to reach him through her, to share any fears. Netanyahu never called, never issued a statement. Neither did "the lady." President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, did call.
Dismantling and assembling
Gideon Sa'ar's original plan was to break up his union with Gantz on October 16 last year, the first day of the Knesset's winter session – or at the very latest by beginning of November, the day after the municipal elections. The war disrupted those plans. Sa'ar's chilly separation from the National Unity Party and the brawl that has erupted in its wake create the impression that the chairman of the National Right (as his party is now known) has jumped ship from the "government of change" bloc and settled back into Netanyahu's embrace. His earlier statement that in the wake of the war, political boycotts – including, emphatically, against Netanyahu – should end have certainly helped reinforce that impression. The dismantling of National Unity can be seen as a continuation of that statement.
When Sa'ar left Likud three and half years ago, his justification was that "statism had been trampled" by the incessant assault on the judiciary by Netanyahu and his supporters. Since then there have been countless further justifications as to why Israel has existential reasons to rid itself of this dangerous figure: Likud's comportment in opposition during the rule of the "bloc of change" – the racist campaign against Arab MKs, the hunting of ministers and MKs (including Sa'ar) – and later, after its return to power, the attempt to carry out a judicial coup and eliminate Israel's democracy, followed by the massacre, the shirking of responsibility and the smear campaign against the army.
Gideon Sa'ar and Zeev Elkin at a National Unity Party caucus meeting last year.Credit: Oren Ben Hakoon
Now is not the time to end the boycott; now is the time to tighten it. Netanyahu must be knocked off his perch, not saved. This must happen for Israel's sake, not to serve any personal interest. After all, most of the public wants to be rid of Netanyahu. A not insignificant part of public will feel not just cheated but betrayed, and rightly so, if Sa'ar becomes a shoulder to lean on for Netanyahu and his bloody coalition, which since it was established has done more harm to Israel than any external enemy.
If Gantz and Eisenkot eventually call a press conference to announce that they are pulling out of the government, Sa'ar will be hard-pressed to persuade anyone that he is a greater patriot. That isn't to say that the heads of National Unity are packing their bags. That isn't the situation right now. They believe they are needed more than ever – because of the fate of the hostages, because of the day after, because of the impending operation in Rafah, because they see Netanyahu lashing out wildly at Biden, so much so as to threaten the country's vital security interests. They are responsible enough not to leave him alone with Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The day after Sa'ar pulled out of National Unity, Gantz rushed to clarify that he was opposed to Sa'ar joining the war cabinet on the grounds that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That was a mistake. It turns out that Gantz too has emotions. Sa'ar accused him of having ulterior motives. The situation right now is as follows: Gantz has vetoed Sa'ar joining the war cabinet; Ben-Gvir has made it clear that if Sa'ar is in then he wants in as well. Netanyahu will have to make a call; Sa'ar isn't about to give in, and neither is Gantz. Nor for that matter is Ben-Gvir.
Despite his temperate image, Gantz is not an easy partner. Since entering politics five and a half years ago he has been responsible not only for the greatest number of political hookups, but also for the greatest number of breakups. The first was with Moshe Ya'alon, then came Gabi Ashkenazi and now Gideon Sa'ar. Gantz has a saying that explains a lot: "When I move out, I mark my direction; the rest can arrange themselves around me."
Between two brigadier generals
The new situation between Gantz and Sa'ar is good news for Netanyahu (as long as the war-cabinet crisis is resolved). He's happy with "divide," even if he has no "conquer."
The timing is also excellent. The motor of the infamous poison machine rattles nonstop, escalating the campaign against Gantz. The Bibi-ists are reviving old conspiracies and inventing new ones about the boss' partner-rival.
Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss at the Gaza border this week.Credit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz
Making Victor Frankenstein proud, they recently added new organs to the Fifth Dimension case, the one where this now defunct tech company was suspected of improperly obtaining 4 million shekels ($1.1 million) through a no-bid tender. Gantz was once the chairman of that firm.
The innuendos are about corruption – of course with nothing solid behind them. Netanyahu's truth has never depended on the laws of gravity.
These efforts are linked to those in the more powerful campaign, the one against the officer class as a whole. "Wexner officers" has been a common term in recent weeks; it means that men in uniform have undergone leftist brainwashing by the U.S.-based Wexner Foundation on their way to senior positions in the deep state. (The foundation had a program with Harvard until it cut ties because of "the dismal failure of Harvard's leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand" against Hamas' brutal massacre.)
The people behind the Bibi-ist campaigns convert current events into toxic fuel. They had a field day this week in the form of brigadier generals. An invisible hand added the line "a graduate of the Wexner Foundation" to Dan Goldfuss' Wikipedia page; Goldfuss is the general who called for the country's political leaders "to be worthy" of the sacrifices by the combat troops.
Another hand made sure to emphasize that Barak Hiram, a brigadier general who has been particularly aggressive in Gaza, was a candidate to be Netanyahu's military secretary.
This campaign of the prime minister's perfectly fits the Bibi-ist base and his messianic partners. It's a campaign of kippa counting among IDF officers, with the requisite incitement and poison.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Defense Ministry this week.Credit: Oren Ben Hakoon
This effort perfectly meshes with the assault on the IDF chief of staff over the upcoming round of appointments in the military. As far as Herzl Halevi's critics are concerned, he must not be allowed to appoint any new officers. Smotrich is among the top people party to this: How dare the failed chief of staff try to appoint senior officers?
To these critics, the posts should be left unfilled and the army simply should not function. You'll remember they tried this with the Judicial Appointments Committee. Chaos and damage are this gang's doctrinal basis.
Hiram, on the other hand, has become something of a poster boy. The orchestrators of the campaign don't want to know what happened at Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, when 12 hostages held by Hamas were killed in a home in the community. The only two survivors say the house was shelled by a tank, raising suspicions that Hiram, who led the fighting at Be'eri, injudiciously ordered a tank crew to fire on the house.
These activists also don't care who gave the authorization to demolish a university building in Gaza City. They're happy with "shoot first, ask questions later." It's not clear that Hiram can sleep well knowing that far-rightists Avi Maoz and Itamar Ben-Gvir are embracing him.
The police under Ben-Gvir are undergoing a nauseating decline in the spirit of thuggery and fascism. This includes the police acting like goons on Tel Aviv's Kaplan Street, the whitewashing of the investigation into the killing of Yuval Kestelman, and the support for the Border Police officers who shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian boy. Kestelman is the Israeli who killed assailants in a terror attack before being mistaken for a terrorist by a soldier at the scene.
Ben-Gvir's streams of filth, which taint everyone wearing a police uniform, show that the force is in a tailspin. It won't be easy to fix this institution, but it's possible. But if the army falls to the same poison, there's no way back. -