On Thursday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed a "dangerous" disagreement between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of the security services over the course of the war in the Gaza Strip.

The newspaper said that the security elite believes that Netanyahu “endangers war gains and causes strategic damage when he is not decisive on five major issues.”

It stated that the issues are “the hostage deal, the issue of the day after the war, the military operation in Rafah, the war of attrition in the north (referring to the confrontations with Hezbollah), and the defense budget allocated to the Gaza war.”

She noted that, "In recent weeks, a growing disagreement has emerged between senior members of the security establishment, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, and Netanyahu."

The newspaper reported that politicians in Tel Aviv are demanding that Netanyahu take a decision on five strategic issues that they say are “necessary to end a war in the southern and northern arena.”

It indicated that politicians consider Netanyahu “incapable of making decisions” on these issues.

She added: "All of these issues are interconnected, and according to prominent sources in the security apparatus, Netanyahu refrained from making a decision in this regard, thus preventing the Israeli army from acting in a way that would advance the achievement of the war objectives."

The newspaper continued: “The army asks the Prime Minister and the expanded political and security ministerial council to take clear decisions on these five issues,” most notably the issue of detainees in the Gaza Strip.

He added: "First, regarding the issue of the kidnapped people (prisoners in Gaza), there is a desire to take a decision to stop the war for an indefinite period, to allow for a comprehensive deal in several stages or in one stage."

The second strategic issue relates to what is known as “the next day.”

• Searching for an alternative to Hamas in Gaza

In this regard, Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Israeli army “claims that Netanyahu’s hesitation, especially the lack of political action to form an alternative civilian government, is pushing Hamas to return and establish itself in areas that have already been cleared.”

It added: "The Israeli army claims that there is no point in entering Rafah without an alternative civilian government to Hamas, because as soon as the army leaves the region, the organization will return to control the border area with Egypt."

It stated that the third issue is the military operation in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, which is crowded with displaced people.

It explained, "The Israeli army claims that it prepared months ago an implementable plan to evacuate nearly a million displaced people in the city, and then conducted military maneuvers inside and around it in stages in order to dismantle the three Rafah Brigade brigades."

It talked about the Chief of Staff making several times (decisions) regarding the plans related to entering Rafah, whether to evacuate the displaced or for the military operation.

But it reported that Netanyahu “does not do this” under pressure from US President Joe Biden.

• Confrontations with “Hezbollah”

In a related context, the newspaper pointed out that the fourth issue in the package of strategic issues disputed among Israeli politicians is “stopping the conflict in the north,” that is, with Lebanon.

It said: “The security establishment claims that the continued normalization of the war of attrition may become routine, and the residents of the Galilee will not be able to return to their homes for a year or more.”

It pointed out that the fifth issue is the "defense budget" regarding which there is no clarity.

The newspaper considered this issue "of particular importance with regard to preparing for a possible confrontation with Iran."

It said that all these crucial strategic decisions are linked to each other and depend on each other, and therefore the entire security establishment, led by Minister Gallant, Chief of Staff Halevy, and perhaps also the head of the Shin Bet Security Service, Ronen Bar, and the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, is demanding that Netanyahu make these decisions. .

In this context, Yedioth Ahronoth quoted two senior sources as saying, “If the Prime Minister and the expanded government do not take a decision, the army commanders and Gallant may take steps that have been avoided until now.”

It continued: “According to the same sources, many senior officials in the Israeli army may announce within a few months their decision to retire due to their role in the failures of last October 7 (the day Hamas attacked settlements and towns around the Gaza Strip), and this fact makes it easier for them to explain Their position on Netanyahu.”

The newspaper added: “According to them, they want to end the war by defeating Hamas and removing Hezbollah from the northern border in order to repair the strategic damage to the State of Israel” on October 7.

It considered that Netanyahu's hesitation "increases the harm of deterrence and does not allow achieving the desired results of the war."

The newspaper stressed that "there is no point in continuing to falter."

On Wednesday evening, the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, Giora Eiland, said that the United States, which expected the war on Gaza to end in a few months, was “tired” of its continuation and wanted it to end.

He said in an interview with Israeli radio: “What is most important for the United States is to end the war. They expected that the war would end within a few months. They are tired.”