Israeli army spokesman’s comments undermine ‘Netanyahu’s doctrine’ on Hamas’s destruction: Analyst
Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar said the statement by Israel’s army spokesman Daniel Hagari that “Hamas is an ideology” and “we cannot eliminate an ideology” has undermined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “doctrine” that Hamas could be defeated “once and for all”.
“Right now, it seems that for the first time after many years, there is an ongoing escalation between the government headed by Netanyahu and his entourage of reporters, analysts who are actually on his – unofficially – on his team, that are smearing the chief of staff,” Eldar told Al Jazeera.
“It’s a kind of apocalyptic scenario that the army spokesman – who is reporting to the chief of staff – is just undermining Netanyahu’s doctrine, which is: We do have to put an end to the Hamas government once and for all in Gaza,” Eldar said.
“What Hagari is saying is challenging Netanyahu and saying, actually … you are hallucinating.”
Widening rift between Israel’s PM and army over ‘Hamas defeat’ comments
The Israeli prime minister’s office fuming at this and releasing a statement saying that one of the goals of the war is to eliminate Hamas’s military and political capabilities. But the army’s spokesperson has said that anyone who is saying that is, in fact, misleading the public.
This just gives you an idea of what Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies are in this war, and the army on the ground saying it is actually not realistic.
Netanyahu creating ‘mythical’ rift with Biden ahead of US elections
Netanyahu has artificially created a rift with the Biden administration to play into US domestic politics ahead of the country’s presidential elections, says HA Hellyer, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The rift is “created … mythical”, Hellyer told Al Jazeera, adding that Biden has applied no serious pressure on Netanyahu beyond “rhetoric”.
“It’s certainly not how Netanyahu is presenting it, as though they’re in battle.”
Netanyahu is likely playing up the divide with Biden because he feels a Trump presidency would work even more to his advantage, leaving him more “free”, said Hellyer.
Netanyahu’s days are numbered: Opposition leader Lapid
Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid has issued more blistering criticism of PM Netanyahu, saying he is inflicting “unimaginable” damage on the country and has lost the faith of the security establishment.
“The damage that Netanyahu inflicts on Israel is unimaginable and it will take us many years to repair it,” Lapid said in comments carried by Israel’s Maariv newspaper.
“When he’s gone, there won’t even be a fountain named after him, let alone a street or a cultural hall,” Lapid said. “He will only be remembered for October 7.”
Lapid predicted that Netanyahu’s government would soon fall and elections would be called in 2024. He says he has no personal desire to see Netanyahu behind bars but opposes Netanyahu receiving any pardon.
