Israeli mother tells Netanyahu to stop playing ‘petty politics’ with lives of captives in Gaza
The families of Israeli captives demonstrated outside the private residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the town of Caesarea on Thursday, calling for elections to be held and a ceasefire-for-captives deal to be agreed.
“We came to tell the prime minister we will not allow you to play petty politics on the backs of the hostages,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, the Haaretz newspaper reports.
“We will not let you abandon the hostages, abandon the north and take an entire country captive for your political survival. It will not happen,” she said.
Protesters attend a demonstration against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government near the Israeli prime minister’s private residence in Caesarea, Israel, on June 20
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Israeli army wants to leave Gaza, Netanyahu has ‘other ideas’
The Israeli army wants to withdraw from Gaza but PM Netanyahu “has other ideas”, according to Israeli military analyst Amos Harel.
Writing in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Harel said Netanyahu “continues to declare that the all-out war against Hamas will continue for as long as it takes”.
“He’s again scattering promises of total victory to his supporters. In reality, what we have is a war that looks more eternal than a victory,” he wrote, adding that “Netanyahu’s supreme goal remains survival: to get through the Knesset’s summer session and wait in the hope that Trump will be elected president in November.
“That’s preferable for him compared to the alternative of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an effective admission of failure to achieve the goals of the combat, and the almost certain resignation of the extreme right parties from the coalition and the collapse of the government,” Harel added.
Earlier this week, Israel’s military spokesman exposed a widening rift between the country’s political and army leadership, questioning Netanyahu’s stated goal of destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip for the war to end.
After nine months of war in which more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed, Daniel Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13 broadcaster on Wednesday that the task was impossible.
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- The pressure on reserve forces has become unbearable and the political situation is dangerous and deteriorating.
- There’s a growing confidence crisis among the public and difficulty in dealing with the problem of those who fled their homes nine months ago.
- Israel does not have the ability to withstand more months in light of the bad situation, economic deterioration and political collapse.
- Great pressure must be exerted on Hamas, the captives must return, the war in Gaza must end and a settlement in the north must be made.
