Netanyahu gov. sinking in chaos as Gallant, Ben-Gvir clash in debate
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The deepening division and mounting chaos within Netanyahu's government are becoming increasingly evident, reflecting a broader crisis across the Israeli political landscape.
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Far-right Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks to journalists outside the Likud Party headquarters after meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, on November 7, 2022. (AP)
Israeli Minister of Security Yoav Gallant and Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir engaged in a heated exchange of blame on Friday over the deepening crisis facing the Israeli occupation. The growing strain on the occupation’s resources, compounded by the ongoing war, has not only magnified its losses but also exposed the increasing dysfunction within its government.
As the war drags on, the blame game between top officials highlights the mounting sense of failure and the internal fractures within "Israel’s" leadership.
The exchange of accusations between Gallant and Ben-Gvir encapsulates the broader state of division and disarray within Netanyahu’s government, as well as within the Israeli political landscape as a whole, according to Israeli media reports. The escalating internal divides underscore the deepening fractures and instability plaguing the occupation government amid the ongoing crisis.
Gallant described Ben-Gvir as "irresponsible and a threat to Israeli national security due to his support for the terrorism of Israeli settlers."
On X, Yoav Gallant publicly backed the head of the General Security Service and its personnel, directly criticizing Ben-Gvir's actions as "irresponsible" and a major contributor to the growing internal division within Israeli society. He warned of the grave consequences that could arise from Ben-Gvir’s reckless behavior, emphasizing that such actions are exacerbating an already volatile situation.
In response, Ben-Gvir fired back with a post targeting Gallant: "You promised to return Lebanon to the Stone Age, yet you're turning northern Israel into the Stone Age instead. Rather than attacking me on X, start targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon."
On Thursday, the Israeli Channel 12 reported that the head of the Israeli Security Agency issued a stark warning last week to senior Israeli officials regarding the threat of "Jewish terror" driven by extremist settler violence in the occupied West Bank, after a deadly attack by settlers on the Palestinian village of Jit, east of Qalqilya.
In the attack, a Palestinian youth was killed and another was critically injured during an attack by Israeli settlers on Jit. The settlers raided the village and set fire to several Palestinian homes and vehicles. According to local sources, Israeli occupation forces blocked Palestinian Civil Defense teams from reaching the burning homes and vehicles to extinguish the flames.
In a separate context, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier today that "Netanyahu does not want to recover the Israeli hostages [captives] in Gaza." He added that "ceasefire negotiations could collapse at some point" and warned of a potential shift towards a "total war" scenario.
In an article for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Olmert noted that the ongoing war on Gaza and its possible expansion into the North with Hezbollah increases the risk of a comprehensive conflict involving other parties such as the Yemeni Armed Forces and "Iran-supported groups in Syria and Iraq."
According to Olmert, such a scenario "poses a real threat to Israel," resulting in many casualties among soldiers and settlers, significant damage to "Israel's" infrastructure, and a serious decline in its international standing.
He stated that Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must choose between abandoning his declared goal of "total victory" or continuing the war, which could expand into a multi-front conflict without a reasonable timeline for resolution. Olmert warned that "Israel is taking significant steps towards a comprehensive war," which he says is the agenda of Netanyahu, Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
