Islam Times - Netanyahu Vs. Army Duel: Who Will Win?

Islam Times - Ten months after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm of October 7 that dealt a strong blow to the image of Israel, the impacts of this unique operation continue to hit occupied territories, every day causing newer and broader political and security consequences to the Israeli regime.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military commanders still trade blames for the defeat in war with Hamas.

The longer the Gaza war goes on, the wider these gaps among Israeli leaders grow, and in recent days they developed into a verbal war between Netanyahu and the army officials.Netanyahu argues that one of the reasons for the lack of progress in the prisoner swap negotiations in recent months is that the army does not apply enough military pressure against Hamas, which practically means accusing the army commanders of disobeying orders. In this regard, Channel 12 reported that the Chief of Staff of the Army, Herzi Halevi, also took Netanyahu's statements seriously in a meeting and demanded an apology from him, but the PM has not yet responded to this request.

Netanyahu blames the army as the cause of the failure of the ceasefire negotiations with Hamas while he recently set conditions that, according to the Israeli media, are a kind of roadblock to negotiations. Haaretz newspaper describes the failure of negotiations by Netanyahu as "dropping an atomic bomb" on the Israelis.

Netanyahu, who is overtaken by the fear of his security meetings being leaked, has ordered that from now on, the security meetings as well as the cabinet consultations held at the headquarters of the defense ministry not be recorded, and the army followed the order by turning off the automatic recording devices in the meeting room.

Haaretz wrote that Netanyahu has not stopped at this point and to ease his worries about these meetings that one day may be used against him is holding many of his meetings in his office to make sure recording devices are not installed there.

These measures by Netanyahu come whereas according to the law of the PM's office, the government is required to prepare the minutes of all meetings of the cabinet and ministerial committees in a recorded and written form to be archived. A few weeks ago, Israeli media accused Netanyahu of ordering the negotiations to not be recorded during the war in order to avoid being questioned post-war.

Netanyahu seeking political ejection from the October 7 charges seat

Netanyahu’s attacks on the army that intensified earlier this month with surprising comments by his wife who accused the army commanders of plotting a coup against her husband come as a fact-finding committee is in the making to investigate who is to blame for October 7 and the negligence of protection of settlements. So, to avoid upcoming challenges for his performance in Gaza war, he had made new initiatives and is seeking alternatives for this official committee.

According to Walla news, Netanyahu is mulling change of the law of the formation of official investigation committee. According to the law, the attorney general should form this committee that is upheld by 80 Knesset members. The committee is being formed at a time when the demands for a formal investigation committee on the security inefficiency in dealing with Hamas operation are growing.

According to the report, Netanyahu seeks to postpone the formation of the probe committee until the next general election, but if public pressure for the formation of an official investigative committee increases, he will try to neutralize it by pushing to circumvent the law.

Also, tensions between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant are running high over the agreement with the Hamas movement regarding the release of prisoners and the cessation of war. Netanyahu has reportedly banned Galant's separate meetings with the heads of Mossad and internal security service Shin Bet.

This is while Gallant last week after the publication of the preliminary results of the investigation into the events of October 7 said: "All of us must bear the burden placed on the shoulders of the people of Israel. We did not fulfill our responsibility to defend the people of Israel on October 7. An official and objective fact-finding committee should be formed and it should be made up of everyone, including the government, the army and the security forces, and even me, the prime minister, the army chief of staff and Shabak to investigate. This committee should investigate the failure of October 7 and the reason for the increasing power of Hamas."

The Israeli army has accepted part of the blame for the failure to repel October 7 attack and has several times called on the government to shoulder its part. But Netanyahu evades such a responsibility. Even at the beginning of the Gaza war, Netanyahu destroyed some documents related to October 7 so that these documents would not be used against him in the future, and this issue triggered a wave of criticism in the occupied territories.

The commanders of the army know very well that if they lose in the Gaza war and incur a lot of costs, the Supreme Court and the opposition parties will hold them accountable the day after the war, and they may even be imprisoned. Therefore, they do not want the government to escape the consequences and leave the army alone suffering them.

This has caused gaps between security and political officials about whether to continue or to stop the war in Gaza. Reportedly, Gallant wants a deal with Hamas to go into effect as quickly as possible, but Netanyahu claims that Hamas’s proposal is "explosive" and cannot be accepted and the only solution is military pressure.

Since the beginning of war, Netanyahu has rejected possible alternatives to Hamas rule in Gaza, including the US-proppsed administration of the coastal enclave by Palestinian Authority or Arab-demanded formation of a Palestinian national unity government that includes Hamas. This rejection, experts say, show that he has no post-war strategy for Gaza.

In a recent speech, Netanyahu stated that the Israeli army will continue the war until it achieves its goals, which is destroying Hamas and returning the prisoners home. Netanyahu and hard-line cabinet ministers believe that if they continue the war for a long time, they can destroy Hamas and occupy Gaza, but military security officials who closely monitor developments on the ground have repeatedly said that destroying Hamas is impossible, because this movement is not just a military group but is an entrenched thought among the Palestinians.

On the other hand, the destruction of Hamas tunnels was one of the goals of the attack on Gaza, and after ten months, the Israelis still fail to discover these tunnels, and despite the modern equipment of the army, only 20 percent of these tunnels are discovered, which shows how difficult the war with the Palestinian resistance is.

Additionally, the resistance fighters have so far killed or injured thousands of Israeli troops in Gaza and the numbers are growing every day. But Netanyahu government is imposing a watertight censorship mechanism to prevent data leakage on the casualties.

Netanyahu plays victim with assassination and coup claims

As mentioned, the tensions between Netanyahu and the army have run so high that recently his wife claimed that the army plans a coup against the PM. Yair Netanyahu, the son of the PM, has recently shared posts on social platforms accusing the army commanders of plotting a coup against his father, a move many believe is meant to cover up his father's failure to repel October 7 attack.

Netanyahu himself in comments after assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump in an election campaign on Sunday said it is never unlikely that what happened to Trump happens to him. Incitement for violence and assassination of officials, ministers, and their families exists in a large scale, and threats happen not just everyday but every hour, according to him.

It seems that Netanyahu, who is under severe pressure these days from the opposition parties and hard-line cabinet ministers, wants to play victim and assuage the internal pressure against his government.

In the eyes of some experts, the conflict between the army and Netanyahu and the far-right parties is not related to the current stage, but is a fundamental division, because Netanyahu considers military commanders as his rivals for the post of prime minister. There is a tradition in Israel that military commanders enter politics after retirement, and this tradition makes current and retired leaders potential opponents of other civilian politicians such as Netanyahu.

Ayal Alma, a military analyst of Israeli radio, said that many circles in the government coalition, including Netanyahu, are looking to exploit the vacuum and expect resignations in the intelligence service to select and appoint figures who carry right-wing ideas and agendas and are loyal to parties partnering with the government, and as a result dominate and control all government institutions."

Dim outlook of war in the shadow of army-government divisions

Given the field developments and widening political gaps among the Israeli officials, continuation of Gaza war does not serve the occupation. Despite the push forward by Netanyahu and his cabal with war, the army generals do not want to pay a high price in a war they cannot win and want an end in the current stage.

Differences between political and security officials, many agree, will also have a negative impact on the morale of the Israeli military forces, and they will be disappointed that they have become victims of their politicians' ambitions.

According to Israel media, the army has weakened and the reserve forces do not want to return to the Gaza front, and this issue makes it difficult to continue the battle with the resistance groups. Nevertheless, Netanyahu, who is thinking of maintaining the power, still wants to continue the war to avoid collapse of his cabinet.

On the other hand, the resistance groups in the region have also warned that with the continuation of the war in Gaza, they will widen range of their attacks against Israel and its interests in the Red Sea, and this issue will foist high costs on the shoulders of the Netanyahu government.

At present, Port of Eilat is out of service as the Yemeni operations have zeroed the navigation of Israeli-bound ships in the Red Sea, and if this situation continues, Tel Aviv will have harder days. On the northern front, Israeli settlers are not immune to daily Hezbollah rocket attacks and live under the fear of outbreak of full-scale war. Actually, fighting on several fronts will be costly for Israelis and settlers will have no security anywhere in the occupied territories. So, optimism about a victory in Gaza with such weak forces is useless and army commanders are well aware of. However, Netanyahu's political ambitions and goals prevent a ceasefire and therefore Israel continues to bear costs on the battle grounds.