Israeli Army Chief Tells Netanyahu to “Apologize”

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the recent comments he made criticizing the army for not putting enough pressure on Hamas to achieve progress on hostage talks local sources reported Tuesday according to Anadolu.

Israel’s Channel 12 said in a press conference Saturday, Netanyahu said “for months, there was no progress because the military pressure was not strong enough, and I thought both for the sake of the hostage deal and for the sake of victory over Hamas, we must enter Rafah.”

Israel launched a ground offensive on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 6, seizing control of the Philadelphi Corridor, including the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

The report also noted military officials interpreted Netanyahu’s comments as implying he wanted action in Rafah, but senior army officers did not follow through, forcing him to put pressure on them.

In a Sunday meeting that was also attended by the heads of Israel’s two main security agencies, Shin Bet and Mossad, Halevi asked Netanyahu to apologize, Channel 12 reported.

In the meeting, Halevi told Netanyahu: “These comments are serious. I demand the prime minister issue an apology.”

However, according to the channel, Netanyahu did not apologize.

A military spokesperson who responded to a request for comment from the channel, said: “We do not address what is said in closed discussions.”

Officials in Netanyahu’s office said they were “unaware of such a statement in this security meeting.”

Since the start of the war on Gaza, disagreements between Netanyahu and military leaders surfaced many times, especially regarding the responsibility for the attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza that led to the killing of more than 38,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injury of over 89,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, the Turkish news agency reported.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

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Despite Ruins, Palestinian Resistance in Top Shape

Jordanian military and strategic expert Nidal Abu Zeid said the videoclips broadcast by the Palestinian resistance groups on the methods of managing operations, ambushes, and targeting the occupation forces, prove they are still cohesive and their command and control system is capable of continuing and inflicting losses on the Israeli occupation forces.

Abu Zeid added the resistance operations are managed by an integrated system. He said the videoclips show there is a commander for the operation who directs, then there is the target reconnaissance based on intelligence gathering with another team videoing and photographing the operations.

These elements confirm such a system in the works  is still fine, stressing the Israeli occupation forces were forced to retreat and not withdraw from Al-Sinaa Street in Tal Al-Hawa after the ambush that caused much losses in reference to the latest Israeli military actions.

Abu Zeid said this prompted the occupation forces to withdraw not just from Tal Al Hawa but from the entire northern Gaza Strip according to Jordan 24.

Abu Zaid pointed out most of the destructive vehicles that appeared in the circulated clips are M113 troop carriers, maintaining that this reinforces the theory that the occupation resorted to using this type of old carriers that were discontinued in 2006 due to the significant losses of modern Tiger troop carriers in the Israeli army.

He indicated the M113 carriers are not as efficient, effective and armored which also explains the high losses among the Israeli soldiers as the Israeli army announced.

That the means the loss curve is still rising between 10 to 20 soldiers per day, which imposes challenges on the occupation army in terms of manpower resources.

Abu Zeid stated the statements of Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi about the urgent need to recruit new elements into the army and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant statements about the necessity of recruiting ultra-Orthodox Jews who are exempt from military service confirm the magnitude of the losses the army is suffering daily.

Abu Zeid continued the Israeli combat doctrine is based on three pillars: Deterrence, early warning, and rapid resolution) pointing out the Palestinian resistance groups have succeeded in stripping the enemy of these and which explains the clear imbalance in the military operations and the occupation’s inability to take the upper hand.

Regarding the ongoing negotiations in Doha, Abu Zeid said Netanyahu is trying to booby-trap these talks and obstruct their progress by imposing conditions related to guarantees for the resumption of military action at any time.

These aim at preventing the return of the displaced to northern Gaza, and evade the issue of negotiating with the Egyptian side on the status of the Philadelphia axis, which will create further conflict between the government and the military generals and leaders of the security services.

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Itzhak Brik  Says Netanyahu is Lying on Gaza

Reserve Israeli general Itzhak Brik is a tireless critic of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. He says “what is happening in Gaza is a big disgrace. We are losing a lot, and [Netanyahu] throws dust in the eyes,” the Quds News Network quotes him saying.

“The IDF realizes that Hamas cannot be defeated and soldiers are being sent to their deaths. Herzi Helevi wants to stay in his position until the end of his term; he is deceptive,” he adds.

“…officers, brigade commanders, and soldiers talk to me daily from the field, informing me of what is happening every minute. Yesterday, an officer spoke to me and said, ‘Brik, keep going strong with what you are doing.’ He is in Rafah now and told me that I am truthful in every word I say,” Brik told Israel’s Channel 7.

In reference to statements made by government about the war he said “they deceive the public and don’t tell the truth…we are not winning.  We do not confront Hamas, they don’t even stand in front of us.

All the statements that the army killed 100 here, and 200 there are incorrect. The [Hamas] fighters are underground; they come out, launch rockets and return. They are blowing up houses and using explosives against us and we are being killed,” the retired General said.

“There is no such closure of the tunnels that reach Sinai. These tunnels which they call Hames’s oxygen tubes have been used to transport weapons and combat equipment and the army claims to have controlled the Philadelphi Route and closed the tunnels is not true.

To close these tunnels, a canal 9km long and 50 meters deep must be dug because these tunnels are located 50 meters underground and all weapons and equipment come through them. The army does not intend to dig a canal 9km long and 50 meters deep,” he says.

Are they deceiving us? The army chief of staff said that the army is close to victory in Rafah, the Channel 7 interviewer interjects.

“They are clearly deceiving the public and lying to them,” Brik says.

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Israeli Military Generals Demand CEASEFIRE in Gaza

Could the Israeli army be turning against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu?

Latest report led by the New York Times show that Israeli military generals want a truce in Gaza.

They 30 generals are the most senior of the generals and are part of the “General Staff Forum” and include Chief of Staff “Herzi Halevi and commanders of the army, air force, navy and military intelligence.”  

They have shocked the government and said, Tuesday, they would want a ceasefire even if it keeps Hamas in power.

They argue its’ for the best because they can then start consolidating for the next war with Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanese border.  Many fear that the simmering clashes between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army could flare up into a full-scale regional war which nobody wants, but they are ready for nevertheless.  

 The top generals story is going viral on the social media who are quoting bits of the story of the NYT with one pointing out the  “Israel’s military leadership wants a ceasefire with Hamas in case a bigger war breaks out in Lebanon, security officials say. It has also concluded that a truce would be the swiftest way to free hostages.”

Eyal Hulata, an ex-national security advisor, and is in regular contact with army officials says the “military is in full support of a hostage deal and a ceasefire. They believe that they can always go back and engage Hamas militarily in the future.”

Besides that, call emanates from the fact that many believe the Israeli army has problems in hardware and procurement. They are reporting low on munitions supplies, less spare-parts and low energy. This is plus the fact that Israeli soldiers are fatigued and the low morale among its ranks after daily fighting in a war that never seems to end in Gaza.

The New York Times report is being taken by many websites like RT which states that six current and security officials who sought anonymity said the generals want time to rest their troops and stockpile ammunition ready for possible war breaking out with Hezbollah. Plus, they don’t believe what Netanyahu says that only total victory over Hamas would bring the 120 captive hostages back to their homes.

Dr Andreas Kreig, professor of politics at Kings College London, says the move by the Israeli generals is creating an “unprecedented levels of dissent in Israel’s military from the government.”

The move by the Israeli generals is widening the rift between the military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who opposes any truce and wants continuation of the war on Gaza that will somehow see the end of Hamas and its military wing despite the soaring deaths, wounds, permanent injuries and psychological problem among Israeli soldiers that require psychiatric treatment.  

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