Netanyahu aide: Gaza war draft report being distorted by political enemies

The Netanyahu camp said that the comptroller's report credits the premier for foreseeing the threat posed by Hamas' underground tunnels in Gaza – well before the 2014 war.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: MAY 6, 2016 17:18
Netanyahu surveys the Negev from a helicopter (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Netanyahu surveys the Negev from a helicopter
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that leaked details of the state comptroller report about the government's handling of the 2014 Gaza war did not reflect the actual text of the document.
"There is no similarity between what has been reported in the press and what is written in the draft report," a Netanyahu aide said. "This draft will also certainly be changed after [the comptroller] receives answers to what is written in the draft."
The Netanyahu camp said that the comptroller's report credits the premier for foreseeing the threat posed by Hamas' underground tunnels in Gaza – well before the 2014 war.
"The prime minister instructed the relevant authorities to act in neutralizing the threat," a Netanyahu source said. "The draft which was leaked was distorted by interest-driven parties, including irresponsible politicians who were cabinet members at the time."
"They know the truth, and they prefer to distort it solely for the purpose of politically attacking [Netanyahu]," the aide said.
"Operation Protective Edge was executed responsibly and with levelheadedness," the source said. "The operation dealt a severe blow to Hamas, the most severe it has received since its existence. Since the operation, the Gaza border communities have experienced the quietest period since 2000."
Channel 2 and the liberal daily newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday that the report will include harsh criticism of all three figures. Those who have seen the contents of the report say that it is more damning than the Winograd Commission report which probed the Olmert government and the army’s handling of the 2006 Lebanon conflict.
The comptroller’s report is said to levy criticism at Netanyahu and Ya’alon for failing to keep the cabinet in the loop regarding the defense establishment’s warnings of possible renewed conflict with Hamas in the days leading up to Operation Protective Edge.
The report also faults the Netanyahu government for not convening to discuss the threat posed by Hamas’ network of underground tunnels.