Israel has a brand new battle as Netanyahu starves Gaza – Opposition to Complacent | Aluf Benn

tHis extreme heat waves that hit our region this week do not distinguish between Israelis and Palestinians. But when we Israelis hide in air-conditioned houses, offices and cars, the surrounded Gaza residents can only be with them struggle Constantly afraid of death. Despite Israel’s restrictions on the movement of humanitarian aid, the hunger crisis that exploded in Gaza this summer is still worsening despite growing international pressure to allow for more food, medicine and critical supplies. The killing never ceased as Israel prepares for the next phase of the war to “annihilate Hamas.”

Most Israelis are self-immunized because of the terrorist attacks Palestinians suffered in Gaza. Telled by our government and mainstream media, there is no hunger, only Hamas propaganda and fake news spread in Western media, and they don’t see the moral dilemma. So after nearly two years of fighting, life in Tel Aviv is reminiscent of endless pre-party wars. The beaches and restaurants were crowded, and Ben Gurion Airport was once again busy traveling to Greece during the summer vacation. Israel’s Economic data poorly performed expect. Anti-war sentiment is limited to concerns about the plight of Israeli hostages in the Hamas tunnel, thus reducing motivation to relist Reserve unitsand grow PTSD and suicide Cases in the army. However, most Israelites, Even a stubborn critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will bring him a mean person to continue the ongoing punishment of Gaza.

This public complacency allowed Netanyahu to focus on his favorite areas of political power and media manipulation. His current goal is Obey the armythe ongoing war gave him unprecedented opportunities.

Zoom in: Throughout his long and struggling political career, the Israeli Prime Minister’s main rival has been a former military leader. They have been the epitome of its old liberal institutions since leading the country’s most respected institutions, and Netanyahu vowed to crush and replace New elite Constituted by his socially conservative and religious supporters.

Starting with Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s, Netanyahu fought them – military heroes like Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak and costumes in uniforms including Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot – and survived at the helm. But in a country fighting the permanent war, political control over the military is key to leadership, with Netanyahu being rejected by the IDF (IDF) and the intelligence community in terms of decision-making on war and peace.

Then there was the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, where military and intelligence agencies failed to anticipate and contain it in a timely manner. For most Israelis, this is the worst disaster in the country’s history. But without giving Netanyahu, he felt an unprecedented opportunity to consolidate his power and abandon his long-term competitors. He blamed the shoulders of top brass in military and intelligence directly, Block independent queries. As the war ended, security chiefs were cleared one by one, replaced by the Prime Minister’s loyalists. The purge allowed him to cross the story and with more successful moves against Hezbollah and Iran, even to reduce the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.

But self-appreciation is not enough to make IDF a branch of “Bibist” personality cult. Netanyahu can only envy his political partner and far-right leader Itama Ben-Gvir, who transforms Israeli police and prison service into his private militia manipulate Senior appointment process. In March, Netanyahu took action to take over Israel’s answer to the Pentagon in central Tel Aviv, nominating Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir as the new IDF chief of staff. Zamir, who served as Prime Minister’s military aide ten years ago, has a close-up of his former boss and inner circle. Right-wing politicians and Twitterati praised him for “attackThe commander will defeat Hamas, along with his unfortunate predecessor, Herzi Halevi, who bears the burden of the October 7 defeat. He is widely expected to retain a draft exemption for super-Orthodox men, thus mitigating Netanyahu Politics hot potato.

At first, Zamir quickly adapted. On March 18, Israel violated A brief ceasefire With Hamas, its attacks have been intensified and the movement of food and humanitarian aid to enter Gaza temporarily. May, The military launched another operation To “eliminate Hamas” and appear in sync with the stated goals of Netanyahu and the right: by moving its 2 million Palestinians to the guarded enclave, the only way out will be abroad.

But the so-called Netanyahu crony reveals a different set of priorities very quickly. Zamir showed compassion for the Palestinians, but acted like the boss’ older, risk-averse version, taking his troops’ security and remaining Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip – most importantly. He insisted on his predecessor’s support for Haredi’s recruitment, sending thousands of notes to the super-orthodox youth. By early August, as Hamas would not surrender, Netanyahu and his far-right coalition promised to occupy the rest of the Palestinian enclaves, even at risk of hostages. This is the moment of Zamir’s rebellion. It is reported that he Threatening to resign If forced to take risks in long-term careers.

Netanyahu quickly seized the opportunity of strong competition and looked at it from the usual time. Yair, the Prime Minister’s son and Alpha Dog Whistler, accused Zamir Banana – Public Military Coup.

At a meeting of heated safety cabinets held on August 6, affairs emerged, and the Chief of Staff warned not to send his troops toTantamount…to a trapand risk the life of the hostage. Compromise is a decision to occupy only Gaza City, forcing its millions of residents to evacuate and evacuate – just as the IDF has done in Rafah and Khan Yunis. A two-month deadline was given before implementation.

However, the power struggle did not stop after the cabinet decision, as Defense Minister Israel Katz bowed or left to Zamir. The idea of firing military chiefs in the public sphere for less than six months (almost the speed of Stalinism’s purification) was to normalize them in the public sphere. The so-called potential succession candidate is “More offensive“The general is committed to obeying the Prime Minister and working on the total destruction of Gaza.

All of this is revealed in the hunger crisis in Gaza and the hostages in the Hamas tunnel. On Sunday, a massive protest and strike was organized, calling for an end to the war and the return of hostages. It has gained widespread support in the polls that Netanyahu tries to ignore. Instead, he doubled his dual ethnic cleaning mission Gaza and consolidate his autocracy in Israel. So in an unpredictable twist, General Zamir sees himself as an unlikely leader of the two goals, just like Netanyahu’s ancient military rival.

Netanyahu really shows that she likes to keep her choices open while making her opponent feel uneasy choices and tell different, and often contradictory stories to different people. Israeli experts debate whether he wants to end the war, make some deals, or keep a low-level and expensive battle. There are only two things that are clear: the Prime Minister has an unlimited pursuit of power and longevity during his tenure. The death toll from bombing and malnutrition in Gaza continues to rise, while the Israelis are constantly looking for the other side.

• Aluf Benn is editor-in-chief of Haaretz

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