Israeli soldiers returning from Gaza feeling defeated, reports say
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The Israeli occupation is largely conflicted among itself amid reports of infighting and an overall sense of defeat among the soldiers.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second left, attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Security Ministry in 'Tel Aviv', occupied Palestine, January 7, 2024 (AP)
In a heated Israeli cabinet session on Sunday, tempers flared and ministers wound up shouting at each other during a security briefing as the divide within the Israeli political apparatus continues to grow, the Israeli KAN public broadcaster reported.
KAN political affairs correspondent Mikhail Shemsh said it was an intense session initiated by Major General Eliezer Toledano, the head of the Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate of the General Staff of the Israeli occupation forces.
Tolidano's security briefing to the ministers, a near-weekly occurrence, saw him today explaining to the ministers that the war has entered a different phase, perhaps perceived differently by various segments of the public. However, the reality is completely different.
Tourism Minister Haim Katz responded to Tolidano, saying he did not feel like there was a war inbound.
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli responded by saying: "Is that also Tolidano's job? To take feelings into consideration?"
Israeli "National Missions" Minister Orit Strock, armed with several written questions, told Tolidano that fighters returning from Gaza express dissatisfaction and a lack of triumph, noting that further explanations were required of the government.
When Netanyahu entered the room, Chikli approached Strock and remarked, "This is the political level; your culprit has arrived. Ask him."
Growing infighting
In reality, ministers revealed there were discrepancies in what was being heard from the military apparatus and from what was going on the ground, the Israeli broadcaster said.
There was a notable lack of respect in this session, escalating to shouting between the Minister for Advancement of the Status of Women May Golan and Chikli.
A new indication of a major division in "Israel's" war leadership has surfaced, following the former Israeli chief Gadi Eisenkot's call for elections within months, the Financial Times reported.
"Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth,” Eisenkot told the Israeli Channel 12 a couple of hours after Netanyahu vowed to continue the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip until what he called "complete victory" over Hamas.
Eisenkot, a centrist minister and observer to the country's war cabinet whose son was killed in battles in Gaza last month, called it necessary to hold elections and renew the trust because there is "no trust" in the current government, who he accused of "selling fantasies" to the public.
The Minister called it "impossible" to retrieve Israeli captives without an agreement with Hamas and called for a halt to the war on Gaza for a “significant” time to implement the hypothetical deal.
Eisenkot expressed that releasing captives should be the main priority of the Israeli government and that this cannot happen using only military methods.
The New York Times detailed in a recent report that public sentiment in Israeli society is shifting from grief to indignation.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, stated in a press conference that "Israel" must "take control" of all "land west of the River Jordan," which would hinder the "two-state solution" concept.
US officials have been pressuring Netanyahu to move into the "low-intensity" stage of the war in order to "minimize civilian casualties" as global and public pressure grows on Washington for its support for the genocide.
Responding to the requests, he said the war on the Strip could take "many more months" and that "Israel" "will not settle for anything short of absolute victory," referring to previously declared objectives of "eliminating" the Palestinian Resistance and imposing a government without the participation of Resistance groups.
When asked whether he trusted Netanyahu, Eisenkot stated, "I am already at the stage and at an age where I do not trust this or that leader with my eyes closed, and I judge a man by his decisions and the way he leads the country."
Netanyahu putting cabinet before 'Israel', media say on West Bank
The Israeli occupation sees that the occupied West Bank is "on the brink of implosion," Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday amid heightened tensions and warning from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and the Shin Bet about escalations in the West Bank.
The Israeli newspaper underlined that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers to jeopardize "Israel" rather than his government, which relies on expansionism and far-right supremacy, which it added could be concluded from Netanyahu repeatedly ignoring warnings issued by the IOF and various Israeli intelligence regarding his actions.
The report cited the double operation that took place in "Ra'anana", "Tel Aviv", killing at least one settler and injuring 20 others, saying it was an indication of an upcoming wave of similar operations.
The deterioration of security in the occupied West Bank and the probability of opening up another front in the war would constitute a huge threat to the Israeli occupation, Haaretz added.
