Israeli War Minister Gadi Eisenkot took direct aim at Benjamin Netanyahu in a television interview late Thursday in which he accused the prime minister of not being honest about Israel's war aims in Gaza.
Speaking to Israel's Channel 12, Eisenkot addressed Netanyahu's recent press conference, in which the prime minister publicly rejected U.S. efforts to establish a Palestinian state after the war – and reiterated his intention to continue the war until Israel achieves a “complete victory Hamas has won over Israel.
Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff whose son was killed in fighting in Gaza last month, was asked during the interview whether he believed Israel's top government officials were honest about their war goals. He answered with a resounding “No.”
“Anyone who speaks of absolute defeat is not telling the truth… That's why we shouldn't tell stories… The situation in the Gaza Strip is already such that the war goals have not yet been achieved,” he said, according to a translation by The Times of Israel. “I am already at a stage and at an age where I no longer trust this or that leader with my eyes closed and judge a man by his decisions and the way he leads the country,” he added.
The former general repeatedly slammed Netanyahu throughout the interview, saying the prime minister bore “clear responsibility” for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. He called for new elections because of the Israeli public's “serious lack of trust in him.” [Netanyahu’s] Government.”
“You have to show leadership by telling people the truth and setting a path,” he said. “As a democracy, after such a serious event, the State of Israel must ask itself: 'How can we move on from here with a leadership that has miserably failed us?'”
Israel's relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip has sparked global protests over the past three months. The dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave has led to increasingly urgent calls for a ceasefire from human rights organizations such as the United Nations and led to strong condemnation of Israel's war strategies from governments around the world.
More than 25,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed in Gaza since the war began on October 7, when Hamas militants infiltrated Israel, killing about 1,200 citizens and capturing about 240. According to current reports from the Israeli government, around 130 hostages remain in Hamas captivity.