Under constant criticism by cabinet ministers of their prosecution of the war, top IDF officials and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have revealed that multiple cabinet members were against a deep invasion of Gaza back in October.
In fact, according to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, Gallant, and other top IDF officials, without their strident push for a deep invasion of Gaza, the current war might have seen a much more limited incursion into Gaza, as with many past more limited rounds.
Some top officials have even implied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October was privately waffling on the risks of a deep invasion even as in public he constantly trumpeted destroying Hamas.
The drama heated up on Monday with a Channel 12 report that Halevi finally confronted some of the critical ministers with what he viewed as their hypocrisy for being initially too afraid to invade and then later questioning why the invasion had not been larger and faster.
The Jerusalem Post has known about the inconsistencies in various ministers’ views for some time, but can only report the story now following the publication of the exchange in the cabinet.
As the war has dragged on, Halevi has, in closed meetings, further lost patience with cabinet members who he views as not being serious about security issues, but rather being more focused on their political exposure or opportunities.
Limiting interactions with Ben-Gvir
Likewise, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has started to reduce its interactions with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after perceiving him as being verbally abusive of their officials as well as there being allegations that one of his staffers has leaked security information.
For his part, Gallant has multiple times lashed out more publicly at Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for, as he sees it, harming Israeli security, by supercharging the atmosphere around Ramadan and the Temple Mount, as well as other issues.