The French newspaper Le Monde said that the Israeli war cabinet - which leads military operations in Gaza, on the Lebanese border and in the West Bank - maintained the illusion of unity at the head of the state, reflecting the image of the unified Israeli nation in mourning and in the largest military mobilization in its history, but it is confused and deeply divided from the inside.

The newspaper explained - in a report written by its correspondent in Jerusalem, Louis Imbert - that this body consists of 5 members, namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the American Ron Dermer, his deputy and his “second mind,” and 3 generals who have been wearing black clothes for a month and are constantly clarifying and contradicting Netanyahu’s statements, and they are the minister. Defense Minister Yoav Galant and former chiefs of staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot - who joined the opposition government on the fifth day of the war - served as security around the prime minister.

Netanyahu's second mind

The reporter stated that Florida-born Ron Dermer - who has been with Netanyahu since 2000 - was religious but did not serve in the Israeli army, and is responsible for relations with the administration of US President Joe Biden, who, like his predecessors, participates in Israeli decision-making during wartime.

Dermer - who knows officials in the Biden administration closely, due to his bitter enmities with them - was appointed by Netanyahu as ambassador to Washington in 2013, and advisors to former Democratic President Barack Obama considered rejecting his credentials, believing that he is more of a political activist in the American Republican Party than he is. He is a diplomat, and he helped persuade former US President Donald Trump to exit the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

As for the fifth member of the war government, whose decisions are taken unanimously under the guidance of the commanders of the army and security services, he is Aryeh Deri, the leader of the extremist Israeli Shas party, who was twice convicted of corruption and tax evasion. He leads a party whose majority of voters reject military service, and seeks to maintain the huge government subsidies granted in the spring.

War generals

The newspaper reviewed the biographies of the generals of the war cabinet, the first of whom was Gadi Eisenkot, who had the “suburb” military doctrine that contradicted the principle of appropriate response. He destroyed the southern suburb of Beirut with bombs during the 2006 war against Hezbollah, and his predecessor, Benny Gantz, to whom Netanyahu did not fulfill his promise that he would succeed him after he joined. To his government, he is now seeking to confront the influence of the extreme right-wing ministers whom Netanyahu refuses to get rid of, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has questioned the legitimacy of the war government. Ben Gvir is also working with his ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to fuel chaos in the West Bank.

The generals of the war government have in common that they warned the prime minister months ago of the danger of a major attack against Israel, and at a time when the country was torn by the judicial reform desired by Netanyahu, they indicated that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) believes that Israel is in an unprecedented state of weakness. For example, Netanyahu refused to receive Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, who wanted to share with him the disturbing analyzes by military intelligence.

Last October, the generals of the war government twice stood up against the public accusations directed by Netanyahu against the heads of the security services, then against the reservists and former high-ranking officers in the army who demonstrated against his reforms, and they were now joined by important allies of the Prime Minister who were angry about these accusations, so that several Voices from the right-wing newspaper Israel Hayom long devoted to Netanyahu's defense this week called for his resignation.

Source: Le Monde