Smotrich stirs up Israeli hornet's nest after attacking military chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
18 Mar 2024 09:58
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The far-right Minister has lambasted Herzi Halevi, denying his right to reshuffle the Israeli military's command chain and spurring wide-ranging criticism.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at the Knesset, in occupied al-Quds, the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, on July 10, 2023. (AP)

Israeli far-right Finance Minister and key member of the ruling coalition, Bezalel Smotrich, defaced Israeli occupation forces' Chief-of-Staff Herzi Halevi in an interview for Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 on Sunday, drawing an onslaught of criticism for his stark remarks.

Smotrich held Halevi responsible for the occupation's failure to prevent and circumvent Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, saying that the top commander "brought [Israel] one of its greatest disasters."

"This IDF chief of staff brought us one of the greatest disasters in the history of the country," Smotrich told Channel 12, adding, "It isn’t just that [Halevi] failed on the 7th of October, it is a long-standing failure."

Smotrich's criticism of Halevi is not unprecedented, but what hit home for Israeli officials was his declaration that Halevi would not be allowed to restructure the Israeli occupation forces' command chain, despite the fact that he and other senior officials are legally mandated to do so under Israeli law. The Minister's far-right religious coalition has often been at the forefront of internal Israeli disputes and has seen backlash over its blunt approach to policymaking as well as its clear disregard for long-standing practices.

Reshuffle angers Smotrich

Smotrich said Halevi will not be the one to "mold the next generation of the IDF," stressing that the Israeli Chief-of-Staff "will not appoint commanders," as the ruling coalition does not trust him with the matter.

The Minister's broadside comes at a time when the Israeli military command made a series of changes to commanding roles and ranks of officers, including three new brigadier generals and 11 new colonels and transferring 26 colonels to new positions within the military.

The Israeli military command censured Brigadier General Barak Hiram, the commander of the Israeli 99th Reserve Division, which encompasses four brigades, including a commando brigade, infantry brigade, paratrooper brigade, and armored brigade. The decision came after Hiram overpassed the command chain while commanding forces in the Gaza Strip.

October 7 pushes Israeli contradictions to the forefront

Following the embarrassment of October 7, disputes began to emerge across different sectors of Israeli public institutions, the security apparatus, the military apparatus, the Israeli coalition government, and the most recently formed Israeli war cabinet.

Headlining these squabbles are issues on security and recruitment, which have seen clashes between far-right ministers and Benjamin Netanyahu, on the one hand, and the flurry of Israeli officials, all for different reasons, on the other. Netanyahu and far-right allies have been at odds with the Benny Gantz co-led "State Camp" movement, other opposition parties, Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant, and Halevi, as well as sporadic clashes among members of their own alliance.

Mounting crises have pushed Netanyahu to consider abolishing the Israeli war cabinet following his fallout with Minister Gantz and recent public discord with Gallant over the recruitment of Ultra-Orthodox Jews to military service.

Opposition hits back at Smotrich

Aggravating in-house quarrels, Smotrich's comments brought criticism from a member of Gantz's "State Camp" movement, a Member of Knesset, Chili Tropper, who lambasted the Finance Minister for his "insolent" remarks.

"Smotrich talks about the need for trust in the army chiefs and claims that trust has been lost," Tropper highlighted in a post on Facebook.

"Well, according to all indicators, the army actually enjoys the highest level of trust in Israeli society, while Smotrich and the Netanyahu government are suffering from a tremendous crisis of trust from the point of view of the Israeli public," he said, referring to a survey which showed that Israeli settlers expressed more trust in the IOF and its Chief-of-Staff rather than Netanyahu and his government.

Another "State Camp" Member of Knesset Matan Kahana said, "A senior minister in the worst and most terrible government we’ve ever seen, the government that is responsible for the most terrible tragedy that has befallen the Jewish people since the Holocaust, does not even begin to understand the meaning of 'responsibility.'"

Leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, called for Smotrich's resignation from office, saying, " First, accept responsibility for your failure as a government and resign. Only then will you have the right to talk about others."