A sharp divide in Israel’s war leadership has broken into the open after former military chief Gadi Eisenkot called for elections within months and said the government was not being truthful with the public about its offensive against Hamas.
A blunt television interview, in which Eisenkot also declined to say that he trusted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marked a widening split over key questions such as how to secure the return of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group and planning for after the war.
Eisenkot, a centrist minister and observer to the country’s war cabinet, said in the interview aired on Thursday night: “It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust.”
As well as echoing a call from the opposition for snap elections, he added in the interview, which was recorded over recent weeks, that “we should say bravely that it is impossible to return the hostages alive in the near future without an agreement [with Hamas]”. He said Israel should consider halting the fighting for a “significant” period of time as part of any such deal.
The former military leader, whose 25-year-old reservist son was killed in battle in Gaza last month, said the release of the hostages should be the top priority, but it would not be achieved through military force alone and anyone who said otherwise was “selling fantasies” to the public.
Eisenkot’s words sharply contrasted with those of Netanyahu, who vowed in his own press conference late on Thursday that he would “continue the fight with full force” until “total victory over Hamas”.
Eisenkot and his National Unity party, led by Benny Gantz, joined Netanyahu’s governing coalition as part of a wartime emergency government after Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack.
Gantz and Netanyahu are full members of the war cabinet alongside Yoav Gallant, the defence minister from Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party. Netanyahu’s closest political ally, strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, is another observer.
But the group has fissured. Netanyahu and Gallant are barely on speaking terms, according to three people familiar with their relationship, and joint press conferences between the pair and Gantz that took place in the war’s first months have ceased.
Asked about relations with Netanyahu, Gallant’s office said he was “focused on ensuring the security of the State of Israel. Unity in Israel’s society and government is essential for our victory in this war”.
The deterioration in relations is being sharpened by calls from many Israelis for a hostage release deal, even at the price of stopping the war — calls that have been categorically rejected by Netanyahu and Gallant.
Hamas seized about 240 hostages during its October assault; more than 100 were released during a temporary ceasefire in late November, while 136 are still being held. Almost 30 are believed to have died or been killed in captivity.
“Only continued military pressure will lead to [the hostages’] release,” Netanyahu said on Thursday. “Halting the war before our goals are achieved will harm Israel’s security for generations.”
Eisenkot was asked whether he trusted Netanyahu but paused, then said: “Today, I trust the collective, in the joint cabinet that will make decisions. I am already at the stage and at an age where I do not trust this or that leader with my eyes closed, and I judge a man by his decisions and the way he leads the country.”
Another important area of contention is the lack of a plan for postwar Gaza, despite demands for planning by the US administration, Arab governments and the Israeli security establishment.
Israeli and US officials and analysts say domestic political concerns have prevented Netanyahu from discussing the issue. Gallant joined the criticism on Monday, obliquely calling out Netanyahu for his “political indecision”.
The premier’s far-right coalition allies reject any role for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority in postwar Gaza.
Arab states are working on an initiative to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza as part of a broader plan that could offer Israel a normalisation of relations if it agrees to “irreversible” steps towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu rejected such a plan on Thursday, saying he had consistently opposed a Palestinian state and that Israel would retain “security control over all the territory” earmarked for one.
“I told this truth to our friends, the Americans, and I also blocked the attempt to impose a reality that would harm Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said. “The prime minister needs to be able to say no, even to our best friends.”
Separately from the Arab initiative, Qatar and Egypt have for weeks been trying to mediate a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the war to secure the release of hostages and work towards a permanent ceasefire.
More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities in the Hamas-ruled territory.
The wartime leaders have clashed in the past: Netanyahu briefly sacked Gallant in April last year before reinstating him in the face of huge street protests as the government pursued a contentious judicial overhaul.
The relationship between Netanyahu and Gantz is burdened by their experience of governing together in 2020. Their coalition collapsed in acrimony after Netanyahu dissolved the arrangement before Gantz could succeed him as prime minister.
The public mood has also played into the split. Relatives of hostages now openly question whether the military operation, far from aiding the return of their loved ones, is only putting them at further risk.
“People are dying in captivity and we want our loved ones back alive, and that responsibility lies only with you,” Shir Siegel, whose father Keith is a hostage, told the government in a press conference.
The popularity of Netanyahu’s Likud and most of his coalition allies has collapsed in opinion polls since Hamas’s attack, with Gantz and his party now leading by a wide margin.
Asked in the interview whether Netanyahu might be seeking as long a war as possible, Eisenkot — after a lengthy pause — answered: “I hope not.”