In an interview with Politico, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that current PM Benjamin Netanyahu is “destroyed emotionally” by his failure in national security and is preparing to take full control of Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period” after the end of the war.

Olmert continued that the priority should be to negotiate with the international community - to involve the return to talks on the formation of a Palestinian state.

“[Netanyahu] has shrunk. He’s destroyed emotionally, that’s for sure. I mean, something terrible happened to him. Bibi has been working all his life on the false pretense that he is Mr. Security. He’s Mr. Bull****,” he said, adding, “Every minute he is prime minister he is a danger to Israel. I seriously mean it. I am certain the Americans understand he is in bad shape.” 

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“It’s not in Israel’s interests to oversee the security of Gaza,” he noted, adding, “It is in our interests to be able to defend ourselves in a different way than we did before the October 7 attack. But to control Gaza again? No.”

You can't have everything that you wish for

Olmert also warned that Netanyahu's failures have caused Western impatience, as he complained of the lack of sober thinking in the Israeli cabinet. 

“There is a lot that we can do, but we can’t do everything that we desire,” he warned.

A mid-October poll even showed that Israelis believe Netanyahu failed to prevent the October 7 events, which exposed a “leadership debacle”. Another survey showed that 44% of respondents see Netanyahu as responsible for October 7, while merely 18% of Israelis believed he does not have to leave office, but 76% want him out.

Even former Israeli Mossad chief Danny Yatom said Netanyahu caused a lot of harm to "Israel," affirming that he continues to do so during the war on Gaza.

'He won't survive politically'

Olmert, however, saw the Israeli move as impossible and that only a Western-intervention force would work, as he expressed fear of "Israel's" continuing failure post-war.

“There is a total lack of planning for the next phase,” he complained. “What are we going to do? Okay, according to Netanyahu, we are going to smash and break down Hamas. And I think, by the way, that we can do it. Then what is the next step? What are we going to do then? Does anyone think about it? We need to present to the international community our idea of an endgame”.

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According to Olmert, the issue now is that Netanyahu is “in the state of nervous breakdown. I’m not exaggerating. He’s being squeezed from all sides and his focus seems to be stopping being thrown out of office the day the war stops and even maybe before then”.

“You expect him now to talk about the second phase and the third phase. He’s not certain he will survive politically this phase,” he added.