Netanyahu is ‘enslaving national interest for his own political, criminal interests’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “enslaving Israel’s national interest in the service of his own political, personal and criminal interests,” according to a former member of Israel’s National Security Council. Most Israelis believe that Netanyahu is “operating for his own political interests and not for the national interest,” Eran Etzion, former deputy head of the council, told Anadolu.

“I’m one of those in the majority who believe that this is the case,” he pointed out.

This is evident in how the Netanyahu government has “deliberately” failed in achieving its war goals, said Etzion, adding that Israel has made some progress but remains far from eliminating all of Hamas’ military capabilities and governmental abilities in Gaza.

“I, as an analyst, cannot say that Israel achieved its goals, and I can say that the fact that Israel did not achieve its goals is by design,” explained Etzion, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington. This government “deliberately did not want to achieve all those goals because they want to extend the war for political reasons.”

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On Israel’s recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Etzion insisted that “targeted killings are not an alternative for a real political strategy.”

Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed on 31 July while visiting the Iranian capital Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, a day after Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was targeted in an Israeli air strike in a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut. Haniyeh was assassinated, it is said, by Israeli agents in Iran’s capital Tehran last week. Israel has neither confirmed or denied responsibility.

A day later, the Israeli military claimed that it had intelligence that Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif was killed in a 13 July air strike in Gaza’s Khan Younis area. The Palestinian group, however, has not confirmed Deif’s death, but it has announced Yahya Sinwar as Haniyeh’s successor.

“Personally, I don’t think they [the assassinations] were strategically effective. They might have been effective tactically… but they’ve proven that they can recuperate pretty quickly,” said Etzion, who also served as the head of policy planning at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. “This is certainly not a strategy.”

Regarding the future course of Israel’s war on Gaza, Etzion noted that there is a split within the country and its leadership. The public and the “wider defence establishment” are in favour of signing a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. However, Netanyahu and some of his ministers, notably the far-right extremist ministers, are openly advocating for and “acting for the instigation of a wider regional war,” said Etzion.

“Most Israelis are ready to sign the deal as it is. The negotiators themselves are ready to sign. The minister of defence, head of the IDF, head of the Shin Bet, they’re all saying let’s sign.” This position, according to the former government official, reflects “both the genuine Israeli national interest and the will of the majority of Israelis, but Netanyahu is putting up new obstacles because his personal interest… is to prevent the deal, rather than to sign it.”

Etzion pointed out that public opinion regarding the war on Gaza has changed over the past 10 months “as the actual situation on the ground turned out to be not as favourable as they hoped.”

Most Israelis, around 60 or 70 per cent, now want to end the war, although they are still divided over the long-term solution. “I share the conclusion that the national interest dictates ending the war, releasing the hostages, going for elections, replacing our political leadership and our military leadership that failed catastrophically on 7 October… going for a national reconstruction on multiple levels. That’s what we need in the coming years.”

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