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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of adopting an “anti-Israel narrative,” aVsceker Gallant dismissed the idea of achieving total victory over Hamas as “incomprehensible.”
The exchange of barbs is the latest sign of tensions between the two men over the conduct of Israel’s 10-month war against Hamas in Gaza, and comes just days before the resumption of U.S.-led talks to broker a deal to end the fighting and free hostages still held by Hamas.
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed that the war will continue until Israel achieves a “total victory” over Hamas, and in recent weeks has steadily hardened Israel’s position in ceasefire talks, putting him at odds with Israeli security officials who believe a deal would be in Israel’s interests.
Gallant has also repeatedly stressed the need for an agreement and, at a parliamentary hearing on Monday, called those who promise total victory “heroes with [war] drums,” according to Israeli media reports.
This prompted an angry response from Netanyahu, whose office released a statement saying that Gallant should direct his criticism at Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was “the only obstacle to a hostage deal.”
“Israel has only one choice: to achieve total victory, which means eliminating Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and freeing our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said.
“This is the clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Security Cabinet, and it obliges everyone, including Gallant.”
The ceasefire talks, which are expected to resume on Thursday, are seen by the United States and others as the best chance to prevent a further escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, which have been in the balance since the assassinations of two senior figures from Hezbollah and Hamas last month.
Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to take revenge on Israel for the killings, prompting the United States to step up its military presence in the region and sparking a frantic effort by diplomats to ease tensions.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which have been mediating talks between Israel and Hamas, have been pushing for the latter to accept a three-phase deal, laid out by U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this year, to end the fighting and free some 115 hostages still held by Hamas following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
However, several rounds of talks have failed to yield a breakthrough, and Hamas and Israel still disagree on key terms, including the presence of Israeli forces in strategic positions in Gaza and the return of Palestinians to the northern enclave.
Hamas on Sunday accused Israel of trying to drag out the talks without any intention of reaching an agreement and called on mediators to force Israel to implement the plan outlined by Biden.
The clash between Netanyahu and Gallant is the latest in a series of public spats between the two cabinet colleagues. Netanyahu attempted to fire Gallant last year for criticizing his plans for a controversial judicial overhaul, before backing down in the face of massive street protests.
More recently, they have clashed over how to govern Gaza once the war with Hamas ends, with Gallant criticizing the prime minister for failing to come up with a realistic plan for the enclave’s post-war governance.
