Benjamin Netanyahu.
He declared war on an enemy that does not exist - and not for the first time/official website, Yariv Katz
The press conference that Netanyahu convened, one foot into the weekend, was somewhat strange: Netanyahu again expressed his commitment to achieving all the goals of the war, even though no one asked, he answered "half" questions, that is, those that he did not have time to interrupt while they were being asked, and at the end there was no hint that there would not be The State of Israel after him - which apparently could have been perceived as an unsuccessful formulation, if only a man like Netanyahu had had a mouthful of emissions.
More than that was bad, it was weird - and actually, maybe not so much.
Netanyahu is the type of politician who has an enemy - less on the battlefield (where it becomes increasingly clear that he doesn't really know what to do) and more on the political field.
So once it was a prize that would "divide Jerusalem", once it was "big in front of the entire left", once it was "the Arabs flocking to the polling stations in the buses of the left" and for a moment even a real enemy infiltrated the campaigns, with "I will topple the rule of Hamas" , but alas: not only did the man not overthrow the rule of Hamas, but he even established it.
It was always cynical, calculating, cold-hearted, some would say even evil - but it was never so detached from reality.
One could assume that it was a bad day in Netanyahu's office, one that made him run to the cameras there... for what exactly?
This too was not clear until his army of tweeters began to echo the central motif in his words:
the IDF does not stop, the IDF wins, the IDF is on the road to victory and will not let up until it is achieved, led by Netanyahu of course - and there is also an enemy from within: the defeatists who plot To stop the IDF attack while it continues in full force.
At some point it started to get strange: a foreigner who stumbled upon the areas of the Meshhat would surely have the impression that in Israel there is a fierce battle going on between a political movement, led by Netanyahu, which calls for continuing the campaign until victory, and a rival camp that calls for the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
And this was the main problem with the weekend attack announced by the Prime Minister's office (unfortunately, not an attack against Hamas): it simply did not correspond with reality.
Tunnel in Khan Yunis: At first they said that Gaza would collapse when we took control of Shifa, then Khan Yunis, now they explain that there will be no decision without Rafah - and on the horizon the lights of the Philadelphia axis/IDF spokesperson are already flashing
Since we live in a place where we tend to argue about the facts as well, so here are some that we can agree on.
From the end of weeks to months of fighting, the IDF has achievements.
One can debate how big or significant they are, but even those who want (who doesn't?) to praise our best fighters, will admit that these are not dramatic or decisive achievements. We did not eliminate or understand my head Hamas, it's a matter of course that we didn't bring an end to our rule over the Gaza Strip and we didn't release the abductees. It seems that everyone would agree on that. By the way,
it could very well be that victory, as most Israelis interpret it, is just around the corner, but we also hope for it with all our hearts, we have to admit that already Several corners have been marked here as such that if we pass them, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.
At first it was the ground activity, which was intended to complete the achievements brought by the Air Force,. Then it was the Shifa Hospital, which for years was presented to the Israeli public as the dog of discrimination, Until it turned out that there was a certain degree of exaggeration in this.
Then we were told that the takeover of Gaza was just the promo for Khan-Younes, where most of the Hamas people live (who unfortunately were not at home, although Adwa Dadon managed to find a shoe attributed to Sinwar). Now they explain that even Khan Yunes is not important, because if we don't act in Rafah, it's as if we didn't do anything - and if my word is worth anything, then we can assume that it won't stop in Rafah, since we are already being sold the sequel in the form of the Philadelphia axis, under which, as we know, highways of combat equipment pass.
If to anyone this seems like a joke, then it really isn't: it's a cynicism born out of pain that our beloved and well-maintained army discovers while fighting how much it fumbled in the dark despite the reputation of the intelligence corps.
How complicated the underground network was, how many factories for the production of missiles do not stop operating until the moment when they are actually purged, how well the launchers were secured, a large part of them are still active and allow firing towards Israeli territory - and all this before we have said a single word about the north , where plantations and livestock are standing in their wake - and much more than that, communities of residents who are uncertain when they will be able to return to their homes, for some the question is "when?"
is already becoming "is it?".
I want to say: the disappointment with the results of the war so far, without diminishing the valor of the warriors who are fighting with devotion, is almost sweeping and includes not only Netanyahu's opponents, but also those who stand far to his right and hoped that no stone would be left in Gaza.
Now on special sale
Because of the war we all smoke more: the way to quit that has helped millions
In collaboration with Alan Carr
IDF soldiers in the fog of Gaza. It seems that the intensity of the fighting decreases as the Prime Minister's statements become more bellicose/IDF Spokesman
Is there anyone calling for a cessation of hostilities?
Not really.
Does anyone think it's about to end?
almost everyone
.
Even before mentioning the Americans in this context, it should be mentioned that there are other, much stronger, alarming signs.
The IDF is the people's army - which means that the people are the first to know what is happening in it: when our children return from the reserves, when their friends are released, when the soldiers who are still beyond the borders of the Gaza Strip report a sharp decrease in the level of activity or at the very least a change in character. We can conclude from this that the IDF A little digging for the sequel.
So maybe it's about preparation for a more sophisticated and efficient stage, but only days will tell.
In the meantime, this is a slowdown, even if not a stop.
Not only was damage done on the ground, given the fact that Hamas is taking advantage of the Israeli military slowdown to restore its status as sovereign, but also tremendous political damage.
The Israeli Knesset has perhaps ten members who support the establishment of a Palestinian state, most of them representatives of the Arab public.
The same is true of the Israeli public, which largely shares the attitude that there is no one to talk to and nothing to talk about.
Certainly not now.
And yet there was no more talked about concept during the weekend than the pair of words "Palestinian state".
They were not said by Benny Gantz, not by Gadi Eisenkot, not by Yair Lapid, and certainly not by Gideon Sa'ar or Avigdor Lieberman - you know what?
Not even by Merav Michaeli.
Who did repeat this phrase over and over again?
It started with questions "invited" by Netanyahu at the press conference, continued with his answers and continued with prominent "peace-now activists" such as Eli Cohen, until two minutes ago the foreign minister, Bezalel Smotrich the finance minister, Orit Struck the big winner of the coalition funds competition and Itamar Ben Gvir, that we all witnessed last night the marvelous abilities of his policemen to stir up a commotion even among the calmest and most sleepy football fans, that of Hapoel Jerusalem.
Oh, yes - the Americans also revived the concept of a Palestinian state, but only because the Netanyahu government, in whose terrible failure Gantz and Eisenkot are also complicit, refuses to say what will happen in Gaza the day after the definite and clear victory that Netanyahu promises us (for the avoidance of doubt: I wish it would be so!) .
What do the President of the United States and the Minister of Finance of the State of Israel have in common? They both talked about a Palestinian state at the weekend/Reuters
Who resurrected the idea of a Palestinian state?
At this rate, there is the fear that the Americans, who are being dragged deeper every day into the vacuum left by the Israeli government, will further indulge themselves in their own words, until they have no choice but to force an arrangement on Israel that will be the prelude to the next war.
Why?
Because Netanyahu is not even able to convene a discussion on the most important issue, just because it could lead to a rift with the ministers of religious Zionism and Jewish Power.
The fact that this path leads to a rift with the United States has already become dangerous in itself: if there was anything more embarrassing than the Netanyahu camp's attack on an imaginary enemy, it was only the talk about Israel not being a "protector state" (the second most popular country in the weekend discourse after the imaginary Palestinian state).
So the war in the south is slowing down, the war in the north, which with each passing day seems inevitable, has not yet flared up in full force.
And Netanyahu, who fails to win both, invents an enemy in the form of a camp that opposes the continuation of the war, even though there is none.
So much so that there is none, that even the demonstrations demanding the advance of the elections fail to rise.
Why don't they succeed?
Because in the hearts of the many, if not more, who flock to Kaplan every week with Israeli flags in their hands, know that the first to gather in such demonstrations are the same ones who defiled the legitimate protest against the extreme legal legislation with Palestinian flags - and with all their distaste for Netanyahu, to which was also added a real fear of incompetence, they They will not rush to demonstrate against him, certainly as long as the fighting continues, even if with less intensity.
Gadi Eisenkot and Benny Gantz.
The time has come for them to line up with Netanyahu on the release of the abductees, instead of raising false hopes/image processing, Yonatan Zindel, Oren Ben Hakon/Flash 90, IDF spokesman
Not "now" and unfortunately, not soon either
Those who play into his hands are those who join the cries of "now" - justified, certainly understandable, only when they are heard from the families of the abductees.
Unfortunately, not only is it not about now, it's not even about "soon".
I'm not talking about those who join in good faith to the justified grunts of pain and anger expressed by the families, but about those who should know better, for example Gadi Eisenkot.
At the basis of the rational support for the pursuit of an agreement on abductees from the Middle East, there is an assumption that there is an offer on the table.
Eisenkot and others say something like: there is no time for abductees, therefore the abductees must be released now at any cost - and Sinwar will be dealt with later, since Hamas is not running away anywhere.
Therefore, it must be made clear that there is not and will not be a proposal from Hamas that will not guarantee the continuation of its rule for many more years.
That is to say, it is not that Sinwar the sucker will release all the people who were on the property in his possession in exchange for the cessation of hostilities, even if this is defined as a ceasefire - knowing that it will flare up again in six months or a year.
He will demand international guarantees for his status, in a way that will not only position him as the winner of the current campaign against Israel, but also as a legitimate ruler, one who demands and receives an international guarantee.
Acceptance of such an agreement is not possible by any government in Israel, regardless of the identity of its leader or its members, and with all the difficulty in conveying such a message to those who would reject it outright (justifiably for them), the families whose loved ones were abandoned to their fate by the State of Israel and its army, these are precisely the moments when it is required The unity government should spread its full wingspan, so that not only Netanyahu will be required to say that only military pressure may change something in the equation, but also his two senior partners will stop enjoying the status of those who allegedly support a deal that does not exist.
At the end of a week when the skies of the campaign darkened, Netanyahu chose to conduct a political battle with an imaginary enemy/official website, Yariv Katz
The problems are piling up - and the prime minister is fighting with imagination
Sunday of a new week is usually one where you can look forward with hope, expect that a new week will bring with it new and good news.
The problem is that wherever we turn, we find that the sky is getting darker:
the north of the country
is "depopulated of civilians", with the residents of Haifa also adding to the alarm circle over the weekend.
The fighting in the south
- and no matter how they try to sell it to us - dropped a gear.
The Hamas proposal for the release of the abductees
shows that there is no basis for the thesis that "we will release the abductees now, we will take care of the murderers later", since the release of the abductees will necessarily also include ensuring the safety of the murderers.
The Palestinian state
that died before it was even born, has come back to life in a way that fighting it could put us on a collision course with the Americans.
This is the harvest of a weekend where, apart from the spring weather, there was nothing encouraging.
In the face of such troubles, one could have expected Netanyahu to sober up, to fight, to lead the IDF to the victory he had promised to the people of Israel, to put on the table a political initiative that would be the antithesis of talks about a Palestinian state, to demand that his partners align with him regarding answers to Hamas' proposals regarding the abductees.
Instead, he preferred To command his network army which now demands that if there are elements who are not sufficiently committed to victory, they must immediately withdraw from the cabinet, the government and the General Staff and let Netanyahu win...
Netanyahu's choice to conduct this campaign instead of the campaign in Gaza is one of the most dangerous developments even against the background of a period where every bad development is only the prelude to the bad from it.
More on the same topic:
Benjamin Netanyahu
abducted
Gaza war