A key member of Israel’s war cabinet has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not telling the truth about the military goals in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu has publicly rejected the US push for a future Palestinian state and insisted the offensive would continue “until complete victory”.
But Gadi Eisenkot said those advocating “absolute defeat” of Hamas were not “speaking the truth”.
The retired general’s son was killed fighting in Gaza.
He also said Mr Netanyahu shared “sharp and clear responsibility” for failing to protect his country on 7 October and urged fresh elections, saying there was “no trust” in Israel’s current leadership.
Hamas killed around 1,300 people and took 240 hostages in their surprise attack on southern Israel.
Tensions among the cabinet, with reports that the prime minister and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are barely on speaking terms, come as the chasm between Israel and its Western allies widens.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
He also said Mr Netanyahu shared “sharp and clear responsibility” for failing to protect his country on 7 October and urged fresh elections, saying there was “no trust” in Israel’s current leadership.
After Mr Netanyahu’s comments on Palestinian statehood, the White House national security adviser John Kirby said the United States and Israel “clearly see things differently”.
But the calls have often been rejected by Mr Netanyahu during tense meetings with US officials, deepening the frustration in some American circles over President Biden’s unconditional support for Israel.
Amid the preponderance of death in this conflict, Israel’s allies hope life could be breathed back into the dormant two-state plan as the only way to create lasting peace.
But Mr Netanyahu’s comments appear to show he wants quite the opposite: a position he undoubtedly hopes would be more in line with a future administration of Donald Trump and which could have been timed to give his old American friend red meat to rally his pro-Israel supporters in a US election year.
Now it’s “Mr No Independent Palestine”: a position he believes will chime with the public mood here that, while increasingly out of love with its prime minister, is still too traumatised to conceive of a Palestinian state next door.
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