War management captive to Netanyahu’s ‘personal’ gains, Israeli general says

General Israel Ziv, former head of operations for the Israeli occupation army, said that after the dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the management of the war in Gaza and Lebanon is now captive to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “personal and political considerations”.

The comment was made in an article published by Ziv on the Israeli Channel 12 website yesterday, five days after Gallant’s dismissal and the appointment of Israel Katz as his replacement.

Gallant was fired for refusing to vote on a bill exempting religious Israelis (Haredim) from military service, according to Anadolu news agency.

“The dismissal of Yoav Gallant as defence minister also eliminated truth and transparency in the management of the war,” Ziv said.

He added: “The security considerations constituting the goals of the war are likely to evaporate as well, especially the return of the hostages [from Gaza] and the translation of the achievements of the war into fundamental political achievements.”

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Ziv believes “the management of the war will now remain exclusively in the hands of Netanyahu, and captive to his personal and political considerations.”

“It is enough to look at the five shocking cases currently being investigated to realise that there is no truth that lies with the man (Netanyahu), but rather manipulations aimed at deceiving the public.”

The police and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) are currently investigating officials in Netanyahu’s office on charges that include leaking sensitive security documents to the media after “stealing” them from the army.