Halevy's shouting at ministers and Gantz's visit to Washington... Has Netanyahu lost his control?

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Two analysts confirmed that the visit of Israeli War Council Minister Benny Gantz to the American capital, and the shouting of the occupation army’s chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, at ministers during a meeting confirm that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has begun to lose his control over the political scene.

The writer specializing in Israeli affairs, Ihab Jabarin, said that Netanyahu had imposed control over the war council, the government coalition, and the Knesset last February for the first time since he took the reins of leadership at the end of 2022.

Jabareen pointed out - in his interview with the program “Gaza... What’s next?” - that things had gotten out of control, especially with Defense Minister Yoav Galant’s statements regarding the recruitment of extremist Jews and the army’s release of a tape showing the killing of two prisoners in Gaza, “so that the extent and depth of the gap between Netanyahu’s ambitions and Israel’s capabilities becomes clear.” military in the field.

He pointed out that Halevy was, from the first day of the war, the target of Netanyahu's government partners, and for the first time in Israel's history, members of the Knesset mocked and attacked the Chief of Staff in the midst of a war.

He stressed that Netanyahu did not control the field scene despite his political control, "so what he fears most are the elite security personnel, as he is a graduate of the diplomatic corps, and his war against these figures is not imaginary, because they are able to make him appear as a weak man."

In turn, Palestinian writer and political analyst Ahmed Al-Haila said that there is a problem between Halevy and the politicians, as the former believes that the army is achieving tactical achievements, while Netanyahu’s ministers hold him responsible for the failure, describing the dispute between them as strategic.

He added that Halevy accuses politicians of being unable to decide between options, such as eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), or liberating detained prisoners, especially since Netanyahu raises slogans that complicate the political path, such as refusing to take power or Hamas over affairs in Gaza, and establishing a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's level of confidence in Halevy appears weak - according to Al-Hila - who believes that the latter is not consistent with the goals of the extreme right, noting that the Chief of Staff reserves reservations on political decisions, while the Prime Minister takes his decisions based on ideological visions.

Gantz's visit to Washington

Al-Haila believes that Netanyahu wants to open a front against his opponents, at a time when the Israeli public is accusing him of prolonging the war for personal goals. “Therefore, Washington believes that Gantz is a winning horse that can be bet on in light of the opinion polls that place him as the most prominent candidate to succeed Netanyahu.”

He added that Washington is sending strongly worded messages to Netanyahu through Gantz, saying, “Stop evasiveness and lying, and do not deviate from the path we want, and we do not have a surplus of time as the US presidential elections approach.”

He explains that the Israeli scene is divided between the extreme right and between Gantz, Eisenkot, and opposition politicians outside the government, as Gantz agrees with the American view of not wanting regional escalation, especially with the failure of the Israeli army and Netanyahu to achieve the goals that the United States supported.

For his part, Jabareen described what Gantz is experiencing as a translation of the euphoria of fake opinion polls, pointing out that the man was in the United States on October 5 and discussed at that time how to enter Netanyahu’s government as part of Washington’s efforts to search for a partner to deal with him.

He pointed out that Netanyahu was aware of the seriousness of the situation when he brought Gantz into the war council after the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” before wondering how the two men would deal with each other after the latter returned from his foreign tour that included the British capital, London?

Source: Al Jazeera