JERUSALEM – Cracks are widening in a public tiff between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his moderate defense minister, the latest spat showing growing discontent with Netanyahu’s handling of the war at a sensitive time.
Israel is bracing for potential Iranian retaliation after a blast in Tehran killed Hamas’ leader — an attack blamed on Israel. And a new round of cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas is set to begin later this week.
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On Monday, the Israeli media reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant condemned Netanyahu’s “nonsense about ‘total victory’” a phrase the prime minister has frequently repeated during the 10-month-old war in Gaza.
The war, which began with a Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and left about 250 hostage in Gaza, has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians. Netanyahu has frequently been criticized, including by members of his own government, for lacking clear strategic aims, a post-war plan for Gaza, or even a specific definition of what “total victory” would look like.
Gallant's comments were apparently made during a closed-door hearing before an Israeli parliamentary committee and leaked to the media.
Netanyahu struck back, saying Gallant should have criticized Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar instead.
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage release deal,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Gallant attempted to ease tensions by responding that his priority was to "protect the citizens of Israel and to harm our enemies.”
Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, raised the prime minister's ire last year by publicly opposing his controversial push for changes to Israel's judiciary. When Netanyahu attempted to fire Gallant, mass protests erupted, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets in the middle of the night.
An Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media said that Netanyahu is not considering firing Gallant at the current time.
Gallant is one of the few moderate voices left in Netanyahu’s government following the departure of centrist Benny Gantz, who left the unity coalition earlier this year.