With little warning and no explanation to the public, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a handful of his most trusted ministers dramatically reversed Israel’s humanitarian aid policy toward Gaza on Saturday, turning it around a full 180 degrees.
After nearly 22 months of adamantly refusing to do so, Israel began airdropping aid into Gaza.
Despite receiving nothing in return, it declared daily humanitarian pauses to allow civilians in areas where the IDF is not operating to access that aid.
And after months of trying to sideline the UN from aid distribution because much of it was being hijacked by Hamas, the IDF opened humanitarian corridors so UN trucks could bring aid into the enclave.
All this came at a time when Hamas had hardened its negotiating stance in Doha. None of this was a response to a breakthrough, an announced deal, or any discernible shift on the other side.
One hopes that the sudden sea change in tactics reflects either wise counsel
A well-known verse in Proverbs reads, “Ki b’tachbulot ta’aseh lecha milchama”—traditionally translated as, “For by wise counsel thou shalt make war” (24:6).
That verse has also been adopted as an unofficial motto by the Mossad and the elite Duvdevan anti-terrorist unit, though in those circles the meaning is rendered more pointedly: “By way of deception, thou shalt make war.”
One hopes that the sudden sea change in tactics reflects either wise counsel – some new, coherent strategy to dislodge Hamas and free the hostages – or a cunning stratagem, akin to the “beeper operation” last year in Lebanon that debilitated Hezbollah. If not one of those two, then what? Because absent either, the sharp policy shift defies explanation.
Israel has shown before that it will adjust tactics and bend redlines when circumstances demand. But even by those flexible standards, the moves over the weekend struck many as abrupt and confusing. There was no accompanying speech by Netanyahu, no detailed explanation to the public, no framing that might have provided clarity or rationale.
Of course, there is a more straightforward explanation – one that doesn’t involve brilliant strategic maneuvering or clever military deception: that the government buckled under international pressure.
When Israel decided in March to curtail humanitarian aid to Gaza, it justified the move because Hamas was diverting the aid to prop up its rule. The assumption – or hope – was that once supplies dwindled, either Hamas would relent to avoid mass civilian suffering, or the public would rise up against it.
But neither scenario played out. Instead, something else happened – something Israel arguably should have anticipated: photos of emaciated children, real or staged, began circulating across global media. Footage of desperate civilians killing one another over sacks of flour flashed across screens from Wellington to Washington.
These images didn’t just erode sympathy for Israel; they eroded international legitimacy to continue waging the war.
In the court of international opinion, reasoned arguments about the moral necessity of defeating a genocidal, jihadist terrorist organization pale next to a single image of a hollow-eyed child with ribs protruding from his chest.
And as those images intensified, the pressure on Israel increased, including among some long-time friends and in usually supportive media. The question was no longer only how much diplomatic isolation and condemnation Israel could endure, but also how much Washington, and specifically US President Donald Trump, was willing to absorb on its behalf.
Perhaps the shift in policy was not guided by a new strategy or deception, but by necessity – by a recognition that the images flooding global media were doing more damage to the war effort than any gains accrued by continuing the current policy of aid distribution.
If that’s the case, there may indeed be sound logic behind the pivot. Maybe it’s about keeping the White House onside. Maybe it’s about preventing a diplomatic rupture that could upend other regional priorities. Maybe it’s part of a larger shift yet to be revealed.
But whatever the reason, the Israeli public, whose sons and daughters continue to fight and die while carrying out the government’s policies in Gaza, deserves to know what it is. It deserves an honest explanation for why policies long deemed non-negotiable have now been tossed aside. It deserves to know what the government’s plan is for Gaza.
And if it turns out that there is no plan, then the public should know that as well – and then, whenever elections are held, draw the necessary conclusions.