Israeli War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot said that talk of complete victory in Gaza was unrealistic, emphasizing that only a deal with Hamas could secure further releases of Israelis held captive in Gaza.
In a television interview broadcast on Thursday, Eisenkot exposed deep rifts in the Israelis war cabinet, criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s management of the ongoing war.
Eisenkot, a former Israeli chief of staff, sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Channel 12’s Uvda program that aired hours after Netanyahu rejected the idea of holding elections in the middle of a war, and vowed to “bring complete victory” over Hamas.
“Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth,” Eisenkot said in the interview. “That is why we should not tell stories… Today, the situation already in the Gaza Strip is such that the goals of the war have not yet been achieved.”
Asked whether Israel’s current leadership is telling the public the truth, Eisenkot responded simply, “No,” and appeared to take a jab at Netanyahu’s refusal so far to take direct responsibility for the October 7 intelligence, military and leadership failures.
“I am already at the stage and at an age where I do not trust this or that leader with my eyes closed, and I judge a man by his decisions and the way he leads the country,” he said.
Eisenkot said alleged failures in the chain of command “does not absolve [him] of responsibility,” a likely reference to Netanyahu’s previous claims that he was not warned by security chiefs about an impending Hamas attack, and that all security chiefs had consistently assured him the terror group was deterred.
He also appeared to criticize Netanyahu’s refusal to hold high-level discussions regarding post-war planning in Gaza.
“You have to show leadership in the ability to tell the truth to people, the ability to chart a path,” he told Uvda.
“The goals of the war have not yet been achieved, but the [number of soldiers on the ground] is now more limited… You have to think about what’s next,” he said.
Eisenkot also said elections should be held in the coming months to renew the public’s trust in leadership.
“It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust,” said Eisenkot.
Only Deal with Hamas Secures Hostages Release
He also emphasized the Zionist entity’s stated objective of returning the hostages who remain in Gaza, saying only a deal with Hamas could secure further releases.
“For me, there’s no dilemma,” he said. “The mission is to rescue civilians, ahead of killing an enemy.”
Only a deal with Hamas would free them, and anyone saying otherwise, Eisenkot said, was “selling tall tales to the public.”
Expanded War
Meanwhile, the Israeli senior military official said he and National Unity leader Benny Gantz, also a former Israeli chief of staff, prevented the Zionist entity from attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon in the days after the October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
On October 11, “Israel was on the verge of striking Hezbollah,” Eisenkot said, noting that he and Gantz managed to convince officials in the war cabinet to hold off.
“I think our presence there prevented Israel from making a grave strategic mistake,” he said.
“If — according to the publications — a decision was made to attack Lebanon, we would have realized [Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya] Sinwar’s strategic vision of immediately bringing about a regional war,” Eisenkot said.
“We would have immediately brought the entire axis in Syria, Iraq, Iran, with [the war with] Hamas, which caused us the greatest damage since the establishment of the state, would have become a secondary arena,” he added.
Source: The New York Times and The Times of Israel
