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During the past few hours, the Israeli media reported on the state of suspicion and lack of trust between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army, as participants considered the Comptroller General’s request for military documents for the purpose of oversight “an attempt to confuse the army during the war.”

Channel 13 said that the army was angry because of Comptroller General Netanyahu Engelman, who requested documents for oversight purposes at the height of the fighting, and quoted its correspondent for military affairs, Or Heller, that the talk was about instructions that came from above, in reference to Netanyahu and not just an initiative on his part, according to senior army commanders.

The correspondent pointed out that there is a very serious suspicion, as the General Controller was employed “to confuse the army during the war and during the fighting,” revealing that the army’s suspicions indicate that another person is occupying the State Controller “in order to push the army to initiate investigations, while the brigades, division commanders, and fighters "Everyone is busy fighting."

The State Comptroller in Israel reports to the Knesset (Parliament) and examines and monitors the work of the government and audits its policies and operations.

The channel reviewed Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy's letter - which it described as exceptional - to the Comptroller General, in which he said that "oversight in the form specified during the fighting will distract the commanders' attention from the fighting, and will affect the ability to conduct a quality operational investigation."

Halevy added, "Oversight will not allow the necessary lessons to be drawn in order to achieve the goals of the war," noting that "there is no precedent for conducting an oversight review during fighting in the form that I set as a state observer."

In turn, Tali Gottlieb, a member of the Knesset from the Likud Party, accused the Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) of communicating with the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, before the seventh of last October.

Gottlieb asked, "Where are the enormous intelligence services of the State of Israel? Where is the clear intelligence that the Shin Bet is tasked with collecting? Where were you, when in Gaza they were conducting artillery training in front of you for an entire year?"

In turn, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter - former head of the Shin Bet - described these accusations as “ridiculous, baseless statements that cannot have a basis.”

Israeli media discussions also touched on the role played by the former commander of the Gaza Division, Reserve Major General Mickey Edelstein, who is responsible for relations with the settlements around the Gaza Strip.

Edelstein said - during a meeting with settlers who have been away from their homes for 4 months - that the threat of rocket launches from Gaza will continue while it exists, adding, "There may remain a remnant of the threat."

Source: Al Jazeera