Officials say Netanyahu govt illegitimate, cannot wage war in north
4 Min Read
Israeli officials say Benjamin Netanyahu's government is illegitimate and thus cannot wage war against Lebanon.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony at the Nahalat Yitshak Cemetery in Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, June 18, 2024 (AP)
Senior Israeli officials have expressed serious concerns about the ongoing combat developments on the northern front and questioned the Israeli occupation's ability to effectively counter Hezbollah's strength and missile capabilities.
Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik highlighted the interconnected nature of the wars on Gaza and Lebanon. He stated, "Hezbollah launches dozens of missiles and drones at us daily, and we are failing to stop it."
Brik further criticized the Israeli occupation's lack of success in achieving its objectives in Gaza while also failing to halt Hezbollah's missile attacks through either aerial measures or the Iron Dome defense system, and being unprepared for drone threats.
Former Security Minister Moshe Yaalon conveyed a grim perspective to Israeli Channel 12, stating, "Israel has never been in such a crisis since its establishment and is essentially without leadership."
He criticized claims of absolute victory as populist rhetoric, asking, "What does this mean? It's a nice slogan for populism, but it is not practical."
Labor Party leader Yair Golan suggested that the only way to achieve a ceasefire in the north was to stop the fighting in the south, i.e., in Gaza. He emphasized that under the current government, waging yet another war in the north was not justifiable.
"This government lost its legitimacy on October 7 and is incapable of making decisions in Israel's best interest, as all polls indicate," Golan stated.
Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo also voiced strong criticism of the Israeli premier, telling Channel 12, "Netanyahu neither listens nor sees; he thinks only of himself and is leading Israel to disaster." Pardo accused Netanyahu of lacking strategy and vision on all matters, adding, "To some extent, I trust Nasrallah more than Netanyahu."
At war with everyone
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engaged in many battles, pointed out Ishaan Tharoor in an analysis piece published in The Washington Post on Friday titled "Israel’s Netanyahu is at war with almost everyone."
Tharoor says that "Israel" remains involved in the war on Gaza, in parallel with escalating tensions with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.
But according to the writer, Netanyahu "is also picking fights closer to home and much further away," recalling that the Israeli premier has recently dissolved the War Cabinet, which had been composed of a small group of officials, including more moderate political rivals, formed as a unity to manage the aggression on Gaza following the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023.
Disagreements over Netanyahu's handling of the war and his appeasement of "Israel's" far-right have rendered the war cabinet's purpose void, the writer indicated, adding that the prime minister has clashed with Israeli generals, with a growing number of public disputes emerging among senior leaders.
Tharoor moves on to Netanyahu's clash with US President Joe Biden, whom he attacked earlier this week for reportedly withholding weapons from "Israel" and thwarting its goal of completely defeating Hamas. The writer considered that Netanyahu's criticisms of the White House, which ignored the substantial support the Biden administration has provided to "Israel", "seemed calculated to curry favor with his right-wing base and boost Biden’s own Republican opponents."
He cites former US envoy to "Israel", Martin Indyk, as saying that "Israel" is at war on four fronts: Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran. "What does Netanyahu do? Attack the United States based on a lie that he made up!"
"Netanyahu, a wily politician and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is pulling what levers he can in an increasingly desperate quest to cling to power," the writer argues in his analysis, adding that internal anger over his apparent unwillingness to commit to a ceasefire agreement that would lead to the release of the remaining Israeli captives has fueled new protests this week and calls for his resignation and new elections.
Tharoor cites a new poll by the Pew Research Center, which found that Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant's approval ratings among Israelis are "far higher" than Netanyahu's.
