CrossFireArabia
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to lift all restrictions on arms exports to Israel immediately upon assuming office, according to Israeli Channel 12. His team has committed to removing any delays in the shipment of weapons and military equipment on his first day in office.
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is at the center of a new scandal involving alleged orders to halt the recording of war cabinet meetings, which is a deviation from standard security protocols, local media reported on Saturday.
The controversy reportedly began on Oct. 7, the day Israel’s offensive on Gaza commenced, when war cabinet meetings took place at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
While security officials initially recorded these meetings as required, Netanyahu’s office allegedly instructed the military to stop documenting the discussions, arguing that recording was unnecessary.
The war cabinet, formed by Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, ex-Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer. Netanyahu later dissolved the council in June this year following the resignations of Gantz and Eisenkot according to the Anadolu news agency.
Further escalating the controversy, Israel’s Channel 12 revealed Friday that Netanyahu’s office is under investigation for allegedly blackmailing a military officer with a sensitive video to access and alter records from the Oct. 7 meetings.
According to Channel 12, Avi Gil, Netanyahu’s former military secretary, notified Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of suspected protocol violations.
This investigation coincides with a separate probe by the Israeli Lahav 433 police unit into alleged document forgery within Netanyahu’s office, alongside an ongoing Shin Bet investigation into the leak of sensitive intelligence. Five individuals, including Netanyahu’s spokesperson Eli Feldstein and other senior officials, have been detained.
These cases have intensified public concern over the security practices and accountability of Netanyahu’s office amid accusations that officials sought to deflect responsibility for perceived failures leading up to the Oct. 7 Gaza war.
Israel has continued a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 43,500 Palestinians and rendering the enclave almost uninhabitable.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the blockaded enclave.
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the middle of a war slaughter on Gaza and south Lebanon. This is regarded as an unprecedented move especially during wartime.
He cites a “crisis of trust,” between the two men that has brewing long before the war after 7 October, 2023.
Netanyahu finally took the plunge and appointed in his place, Israel Katz amid public outrage within the occupation state and increasing involvement in war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.
Israel Katz has stepped up and previously served as Israel’s Foreign Minister and was formerly criticized as being weak and ineffectual. But maybe this is what Netanyahu wants for Katz is already a hardened “Bibi supporters” who can obviously be controlled.
CrossFireArabia
According to Anadolu Agency citing local media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears that a drone attack might target the Knesset building. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated, “Netanyahu fears drones, and his fears have increased,” noting that Tel Aviv is anticipating an Iranian response to the Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic on Saturday, which resulted in the killing of four soldiers and two civilians.
Dr Khairi Janbek
By Dr Khairi Janbek
When the Oslo Accords was signed, the greatest achievement was seen as being, the breakthrough in the impasse of mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel. They both recognized each other’s right to exist, and that was all about it. Of course everyone knew then as much as now, that crucial issues were not addressed, but the whole picture was: Israelis and Palestinians will no longer kill each other.
As for how to proceed in order to establish a two-state solution from there on was left to the future to take its own course without any hint even at the end of the five-year transitional period when there was supposed to a be sovereign Palestinian state. From then on it was a matter of illusions; Palestinian illusions as well as Israeli illusions.
For the PLO, the hope was that by accepting 22% of the Palestinian lands and relinquishing the right on the rest of the territories, a Palestinian state can be built with parts of East Jerusalem as its capital, while for the Israelis, a Palestinian “ bantustan” governed by the PLO, dependent on Israel with limited ‘petro-dolar’ support was the limit.
But who came out to make a name for himself right from the start as the fierce opponent of Oslo; it was of course Mr Benjamin Netanyahu. Was his opposition taken seriously, indeed it was, but all hopes were pinned on US support to keep the situation stagnant in the format of a no Palestinian state but also no Israeli re-occupation.
However, this stagnation is brought in back today as Oslo came to end by the Palestinians and Israelis effectively killing each other and a situation of non-contextual relevance to the once seen as a historical agreement. Indeed, when the guns spill death, words tend to be superfluous, but ultimately the guns will stop and the words will start flowing again with the Oslo Accords consigned to the shelves of history.
What would all this mean in a US election year it is hard to say, and even harder to predict. How would the future occupant of the White House call the shots in the Middle East, given the fact, and forgive the cliche, the region is indeed on the brink of a big war.
Will there be a new pressure from the US for a new wider peace accord between the Arabs and the Israelis that can guarantee within it at least, the minimum of Palestinian rights, or a semblance of an accord forced on the wreckage of a post big regional war, for which the winner gets the spoils? It is a hard to tell, but it won’t take too long to find out.
Dr Khairi Janbek is a Jordanian writer based in Paris and the above opinion is that of the author and doesn’t reflect crossfirearabia.com.
