The IDF brass which sold the country on the idea of a smaller and smarter IDF snd reliance on high tech snd who as in 1973 ignored and disdained intelligence should resign Their performance was as awful as the US naval brass before Pearl Harbor the French brass who thought that the Maginot Line was impregnable and the British who never thought that Singapore would be conquered by land
" under Netanyahu’s direction throughout this war, Israel has made remarkable, game-changing achievements"
With Yoav Gallant as Defense Minister. It's too early to do a Stalinist airbrushing of his contributions.
Netanyahu's main achievement, in my view, was to stand up to crack-pot ideas like setting up a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi ties, or the three-stage Gaza withdrawal that would allow Hamas to restore its power.
That he is in the clutches of the ultra-orthodox parties during the war is in part due to opposition members who came from Likud but refuse to work with it while Netanyahu is PM. Gideon Saar, until recently, was in that group. They forced Netanyahu to rely on the ultra-orthodox.
Naftali Bennet was a talented, successful PM and the fact that, unlike 2021, there were no Israeli-Arab demonstrations, is in part thanks to his inclusive government. Avigdor Lieberman has been an astute and prescient Foreign and Defense minister. Fortunately, Israel has plenty of talent and, with a good friend back in the White House, can look to a post-Netanyahu era with confidence.
The treatment of a distinguished and dedicated officer like Yoav Gallant, is a disgrace.
Yoav Gallant did not fail in the battlefield: he had a distinguished military career and had been selected as Chief of Staff when a real estate issue, in which he was in the right, tinged him with scandal and he withdrew.
The spectacular IDF success in the urban warfare in Gaza, far and above what American and European military experts had predicted, happened under his watch.
Israel is fortunate to have officers like Yoav Gallant, and wasteful to discard his talents so lightly.
Formal state commission. Formal state commission. Formal state commission. It is all nothing more than grabbing the horns of the alter bullshit. He should have fired the whole lot of higher-ups in the military and intelligence on Oct. 8, and then announced his own retirement. It is an insult to those murdered on Oct. 7 that those responsible continue in their roles as if they have no worthy replacements. They do not have the right to try and improve their legacies. They are a great sullied bunch, and cannot be cleansed by any military or diplomatic accomplishments, accomplishments that must be seen as insufficient atonement for the disaster they themselves orchestrated, and no more.
I agree with the essence of your post, but I object to excessive emotionality, and I do not attach importance to this event.
What happened? A leading politician, a civil servant, fired his immediate subordinate from his post. Moreover, a fellow party member.
Apparently, they had disagreements (also a common thing), and disagreements prevent civil servants from working. This is a legitimate and common action for Netanyahu (Bogie Ya'alon, Lieberman). Please disperse, there is nothing to see here.
I am not bothered by emotions like: "He fired the Minister of Defense during a war!", "He is doing this only to preserve the coalition and stay in power!"
I am not an emotional person when problems arise in the state.
I am just trying to guess whether Netanyahu (or anyone else who remained close to him) at least somehow calculates his moves, does he weigh his decisions, does he think about the consequences?
If yes, then everything is fine, there is nothing to see here, please disperse, but if not, then we have another problem.
Israel's war with the Palestinians and their supporters in the Muslim Arab world, notably Iran, has moved from the defensive to the offensive, which might explain why Mr. Netanyahu felt he could finally fire Mr. Gallant, with whom he had policy disagreements with respect to the pursuit of the war in Gaza and whether or not to strike a deal with Hamas, which Gallant supported and Netanyahu opposed. Gallant also had been fired before during his opposition to the judicial reform before October 7. One might therefore suppose that the long-term perspective on the prosecution of the war now that Israel is wiping out Hamas and soon Iran has different options for Netanyahu and Gallant. No one should underestimate the crucial point which Israel has reached. When the dust has settled there will still be the thorny question of what to do with the Palestinian Authority. I doubt Gallant is ready to dismantle it and I am not even sure Netanyahu would favor that, but the PA is a strategic threat to Israeli that must be demolished. Absent elections, Netanyahu is probably the best bet to be able to seize the opportunity to do so and proceed to the establishment of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza, Judea and Samaria. That the IDF has already set up structures to permanently stay in Gaza is a step in this direction, which Gallant may well have not supported. Anybody who thinks Bennett, Lieberman, Gantz and Lapid are potential alternatives to Israeli leadership should remember the disastrous gas field accord with Lebanon they signed under American pressure, a sure-fire indication that they would have been unable to withstand American pressure during the war in Gaza. Eventually Israel needs new younger leadership across the board and hopefully this will emerge in the aftermath of the war once Iran has been whipped. But Jews will have to change their millennia-old behaviour for that to happen and stop running the country as if it were a synagogue or Jewish community centre or federation. When Herzl encountered his first taste of Zionist support among Jews in 1896-7 he quipped that when the Jewish state finally emerges the first form which a revitalized national theatre will take will be light comedy.
From the US, it looks like Gallant was too friendly with Biden. Now that Biden-Harris is out, Israel can rely less on Biden’s handcuffs and make better decisions for a sovereign state. Moving Gallant aside enables that. How it seems from far, far away.
I have thought for months that Netanyahu should fire Gallant. It doesn't even matter who is right on the merits. Bibi is the leader. He must have a war cabinet that while willing to argue privately will speak with one voice publicly. Gallant was undermining this so he has to go.
That’s a good summary of the situation. And even though you didn’t ask me I’ll answer, as an Israeli who doesn’t live in Israel for the last 17 years, but has close ties and know how important Israel is to our existence. Never supported Netanyahu and never will. This is his shock doctrine moment. He is going to cease it and demolish whatever is left of the check and balances in Israel. I am pretty sure he is going to find a way to get rid of the heads of the army, the shin bet and the legal advisers that stand in his way. These are the days that will determine if Israel will turn into a full banana republic.
The IDF brass which sold the country on the idea of a smaller and smarter IDF snd reliance on high tech snd who as in 1973 ignored and disdained intelligence should resign Their performance was as awful as the US naval brass before Pearl Harbor the French brass who thought that the Maginot Line was impregnable and the British who never thought that Singapore would be conquered by land
" under Netanyahu’s direction throughout this war, Israel has made remarkable, game-changing achievements"
With Yoav Gallant as Defense Minister. It's too early to do a Stalinist airbrushing of his contributions.
Netanyahu's main achievement, in my view, was to stand up to crack-pot ideas like setting up a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi ties, or the three-stage Gaza withdrawal that would allow Hamas to restore its power.
That he is in the clutches of the ultra-orthodox parties during the war is in part due to opposition members who came from Likud but refuse to work with it while Netanyahu is PM. Gideon Saar, until recently, was in that group. They forced Netanyahu to rely on the ultra-orthodox.
Naftali Bennet was a talented, successful PM and the fact that, unlike 2021, there were no Israeli-Arab demonstrations, is in part thanks to his inclusive government. Avigdor Lieberman has been an astute and prescient Foreign and Defense minister. Fortunately, Israel has plenty of talent and, with a good friend back in the White House, can look to a post-Netanyahu era with confidence.
The treatment of a distinguished and dedicated officer like Yoav Gallant, is a disgrace.
Bibi is comparable to Churchill FDR and Lincoln who rallied thejr countries and fired generals who failed on the battlefield
Yoav Gallant did not fail in the battlefield: he had a distinguished military career and had been selected as Chief of Staff when a real estate issue, in which he was in the right, tinged him with scandal and he withdrew.
The spectacular IDF success in the urban warfare in Gaza, far and above what American and European military experts had predicted, happened under his watch.
Israel is fortunate to have officers like Yoav Gallant, and wasteful to discard his talents so lightly.
Formal state commission. Formal state commission. Formal state commission. It is all nothing more than grabbing the horns of the alter bullshit. He should have fired the whole lot of higher-ups in the military and intelligence on Oct. 8, and then announced his own retirement. It is an insult to those murdered on Oct. 7 that those responsible continue in their roles as if they have no worthy replacements. They do not have the right to try and improve their legacies. They are a great sullied bunch, and cannot be cleansed by any military or diplomatic accomplishments, accomplishments that must be seen as insufficient atonement for the disaster they themselves orchestrated, and no more.
I agree with the essence of your post, but I object to excessive emotionality, and I do not attach importance to this event.
What happened? A leading politician, a civil servant, fired his immediate subordinate from his post. Moreover, a fellow party member.
Apparently, they had disagreements (also a common thing), and disagreements prevent civil servants from working. This is a legitimate and common action for Netanyahu (Bogie Ya'alon, Lieberman). Please disperse, there is nothing to see here.
I am not bothered by emotions like: "He fired the Minister of Defense during a war!", "He is doing this only to preserve the coalition and stay in power!"
I am not an emotional person when problems arise in the state.
I am just trying to guess whether Netanyahu (or anyone else who remained close to him) at least somehow calculates his moves, does he weigh his decisions, does he think about the consequences?
If yes, then everything is fine, there is nothing to see here, please disperse, but if not, then we have another problem.
Israel's war with the Palestinians and their supporters in the Muslim Arab world, notably Iran, has moved from the defensive to the offensive, which might explain why Mr. Netanyahu felt he could finally fire Mr. Gallant, with whom he had policy disagreements with respect to the pursuit of the war in Gaza and whether or not to strike a deal with Hamas, which Gallant supported and Netanyahu opposed. Gallant also had been fired before during his opposition to the judicial reform before October 7. One might therefore suppose that the long-term perspective on the prosecution of the war now that Israel is wiping out Hamas and soon Iran has different options for Netanyahu and Gallant. No one should underestimate the crucial point which Israel has reached. When the dust has settled there will still be the thorny question of what to do with the Palestinian Authority. I doubt Gallant is ready to dismantle it and I am not even sure Netanyahu would favor that, but the PA is a strategic threat to Israeli that must be demolished. Absent elections, Netanyahu is probably the best bet to be able to seize the opportunity to do so and proceed to the establishment of Israeli sovereignty over Gaza, Judea and Samaria. That the IDF has already set up structures to permanently stay in Gaza is a step in this direction, which Gallant may well have not supported. Anybody who thinks Bennett, Lieberman, Gantz and Lapid are potential alternatives to Israeli leadership should remember the disastrous gas field accord with Lebanon they signed under American pressure, a sure-fire indication that they would have been unable to withstand American pressure during the war in Gaza. Eventually Israel needs new younger leadership across the board and hopefully this will emerge in the aftermath of the war once Iran has been whipped. But Jews will have to change their millennia-old behaviour for that to happen and stop running the country as if it were a synagogue or Jewish community centre or federation. When Herzl encountered his first taste of Zionist support among Jews in 1896-7 he quipped that when the Jewish state finally emerges the first form which a revitalized national theatre will take will be light comedy.
From the US, it looks like Gallant was too friendly with Biden. Now that Biden-Harris is out, Israel can rely less on Biden’s handcuffs and make better decisions for a sovereign state. Moving Gallant aside enables that. How it seems from far, far away.
I have thought for months that Netanyahu should fire Gallant. It doesn't even matter who is right on the merits. Bibi is the leader. He must have a war cabinet that while willing to argue privately will speak with one voice publicly. Gallant was undermining this so he has to go.
Needs prior essay: Why to Think About the Firing of Israel’s Defense Minister.
I hope it's a red herring to smoke out enemies who may be emboldened by perceived chaos.
A woman can dream.
That’s a good summary of the situation. And even though you didn’t ask me I’ll answer, as an Israeli who doesn’t live in Israel for the last 17 years, but has close ties and know how important Israel is to our existence. Never supported Netanyahu and never will. This is his shock doctrine moment. He is going to cease it and demolish whatever is left of the check and balances in Israel. I am pretty sure he is going to find a way to get rid of the heads of the army, the shin bet and the legal advisers that stand in his way. These are the days that will determine if Israel will turn into a full banana republic.
Only time will tell.