Disputes Between Netanyahu and Zamir as the Invasion of Gaza City Approaches

SadaNews - The gap between the political level and military leadership in Israel has widened as the date for the military operation to take control of and occupy Gaza City approaches. An security meeting held yesterday witnessed a confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff of the Army, Eyal Zamir.

Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu opened the session, which was limited to a number of ministers and senior security officials, with a direct reprimand to the army after he presented news clips that included criticisms of escalation plans for the war, which entail ground operations to invade Gaza City.

Netanyahu said during the session: "What is this? Stop the briefings against the operation. This is no longer acceptable!" He added, "We have made the decision – and it is your duty to implement it! This is not a state owned by the army, but an army owned by the state."

The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, directed a question to Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir about responding to these accusations, to which the latter replied that he "is not aware of any briefings of this kind."

The channel quoted the Prime Minister's office stating that Netanyahu emphasized during the session that “leaks and briefings from security discussions jeopardize the forces and harm the efforts to free the hostages and must stop immediately, with a focus on the war effort.”

During the cabinet discussions, the Israeli Chief of Staff warned that the operation to take control of Gaza will cost "heavy prices on the international and humanitarian front, as well as in soldiers' lives," stressing that dozens of soldiers could fall during the operation.

The channel 12 also noted that the Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, estimated that Hamas "will be willing to return to the negotiating table" despite the attack on Qatar, stating that "the messages that reached Israel indicate that Qatar is interested in continuing its mediation efforts and will not give up its role."

The report highlighted that the Israeli army is completing final preparations for a wide ground invasion of Gaza City, at a time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are still inside it. An Israeli security source was quoted as saying: "This will happen soon, unless a dramatic development occurs – there is no going back."

The channel mentioned that the Israeli army is preparing for a military maneuver described as the "largest and most dramatic in the last two years," while exploring response options in case of casualties among the hostages. It stated that regular and reserve forces have completed their training and rehabilitated vehicles, armored vehicles, and engineering equipment in preparation for the invasion.

In contrast, Israeli Channel 13 reported that the same session witnessed a direct clash between the Chief of Staff and the political level. According to the report, Zamir addressed the participants saying, "Go and bring a deal. Why doesn’t the negotiating team travel around the world to make a deal by force?"

Zamir added referring to the head of Mossad, David Barnea: "Why are you sitting here? Why are you in the country? Go and bring a deal." He continued, "I am preparing the army for the maneuver and calling up reserve forces to defeat Hamas according to your instructions. Why do we always have to rely on the United States?"

Minister Dermer responded to Zamir saying, "You said that the United States will not be with us in Iran and will not fight with us, but in the end, everything happened contrary to what you said and against your estimates." He added, "There is a deal on the table now, and it exists only because we did not listen to you and did not adopt your position."

Zamir responded loudly: "Then conclude this deal."