Galán rebelled against the prime minister’s position and assured that he will not give his approval to the Israeli governance of Gaza. Netanyahu does not analyze scenarios that include the existence of Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, stated this Wednesday that it is useless “to talk about the day after the end of the war, while Hamas still exists.” A few hours later, his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, spoke out against the position by assuring that he will not give his consent to the civil governance or Israeli military from Gaza in a scenario in which the armed conflict comes to an end.
The minister addressed Benjamin Netanyahu and noted that he will have to make “difficult decisions” to advance the governance of Gaza, because the gains of the war are being eroded and Israel’s long-term security is at stake. Gallant’s public comments were interpreted as the most direct domestic political challenge to Netanyahu since the start of the war, with calls from the ruling coalition for the leader to remove the government member.
In a speech broadcast on television and quoted by The Times of Israel, the Defense Minister warns that government by local Palestinians, who do not belong to Hamas, is in Israel’s interest. Netanyahu, the minister said, must delete publicly the notion of a permanent Israeli government in the Gaza Strip.
“As long as Hamas maintains civilian control in the Gaza Strip, it can restore its power. We must eliminate Hamas’s governance capabilities. The key to this is military activity and the creation of an alternative entity,” he stated.
For Gallant, there are only two negative options left: “Hamas domination in Gaza or Israeli military domination in Gaza.” “The meaning of indecision is to choose one of the negative options. “This would erode our military gains, reduce pressure on Hamas and sabotage the chances of achieving a framework for the release of the hostages,” he further noted.
[Já saiu o primeiro episódio de “Matar o Papa”, o novo podcast Plus do Observador que recua a 1982 para contar a história da tentativa de assassinato de João Paulo II em Fátima por um padre conservador espanhol. Ouça aqui.]
As the New York Times reported in late January, the Arab world, in partnership with the United States, beckoned Israel to possibility of formalizing official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia (a process that was interrupted with the start of the conflict in Gaza), in exchange for guarantees of progress in the creation of a Palestinian State. With his recent statements, Gallant approaches the internationally supported solution in a post-war setting.
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This Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu assured that Israel has been involved “for several months in various attempts to find a solution to this complex problem.” “Some of these attempts have been hidden [do público] that’s good. “This is part of the war objectives that we have defined and that we are determined to achieve,” he added.
For Netanyahu, “There is no substitute for military victory.“. “Attempts to achieve victory with affirmations are disconnected from reality. There is only one substitute for victory: defeat.”
Source: Observadora