Israel's former prime minister Ehud Barak has called for an immediate election to end the war in Gaza, as critics claim Benjamin Netanyahu is running out of time.
Israel will “sink into the Gaza mud for years to come” if Mr Netanyahu remains in power. Mr Barak, also the country's most decorated soldier, told The Telegraph.
In a heated interview, Mr. Barak, 81, called on Mr. Netanyahu to resign, increasing pressure on him to call new elections.
He said time was running out for Israel to withdraw from a conflict that has already passed the 100-day mark.
Recalling Leo Amery's overthrow of Neville Chamberlain in 1940, Mr Barak said of his rival: “In the name of God, go.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak gesture and smile as Brigadier General. General Eyal Zamir (not pictured) is appointed as the new military secretary in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26, 2012
Smoke rises over residential areas after an Israeli attack on Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on January 22, 2024
Protesters hold portraits near the Israeli prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on January 22, 2024, during a rally organized by family members and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7 to the heights to demand their release
Mr. Barak argues that Mr. Netanyahu is waging a bloody, vengeful war with no strategic end goal.
He believes the 74-year-old prime minister is clinging to power even though he should have resigned after the military and intelligence failures that sparked the Oct. 7 attacks.
“Israel cannot declare victory without destroying Hamas's military and governing capabilities.” But for Hamas to win, it just needs to survive. And even if Israel kills Sinwar [Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader]“They will still survive,” Mr. Barak said.
'The only way [out of the conflict] is to hold an election immediately.'
He claims that Mr. Netanyahu is being kept afloat by far-right ministers, whom he derisively refers to as “Proud Boys,” a reference to the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol in 2021.
He accuses the prime minister of ignoring “explicit demands from the inner cabinet” to talk about an exit plan and of not “taking into account everything that should have happened three months ago” after the terrorist attack on southern Israel.
Mr. Barak said there had been leaders like the country's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who came to power and tried to stay there by putting Israel's best interests first.
He said Mr. Netanyahu was more confident in his leadership.
With Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the religious Zionist Party, serving as finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the extremist Otzma Yehudi party, as national security minister, Mr. Barak compares them to the Proud Boys.
He said: “Imagine if one of them became treasury minister in the US and the other was in charge of internal security.” It's crazy, but that's what happened in Israel, and Netanyahu is dependent on them. He is their hostage.'
Mr. Barak believes that the release of the 240 hostages, 105 of whom were released during a temporary ceasefire, should have been a priority, arguing that a halt in the war for “10, 20 or 30 days” should not be an obstacle Things.
Mr Barak claims Israel is losing its legitimacy and is worried about the next generation.
He said: “We have to do something about it because time is running out.” There are two clocks that tick at different speeds. The clock of legitimacy ticks very quickly; The clock to achieve the goal is ticking very slowly. “It is the fundamental task of the high command to ensure that these two clocks are synchronized.”
This photo taken on January 22, 2024 in Rafah shows smoke rising during the Israeli bombardment of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas
Injured Palestinians, including children, are taken to Nasser Hospital for medical treatment after Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza, January 22, 2024
Israeli soldiers maneuver military vehicles near the border with the central Gaza Strip, Israel, on January 22, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits next to then-Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak during a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, Israel, November 21, 2012
Mr Netanyahu, whose popularity has plummeted since October 7, faces pressure from the US to move to more precise military operations and do more to facilitate humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The US is also calling for a reformed Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war and the start of negotiations on a two-state solution.
The authority currently governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was forced out of Gaza in 2007 when Hamas seized power.
Mr. Netanyahu has rejected both the entry of the Palestinian Authority and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
His governing coalition is beholden to right-wing extremist parties that want to step up the offensive, encourage the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there.
At a meeting in Brussels on Monday, European Union foreign ministers joined calls for a Palestinian state, saying it was the only way to achieve peace.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed that the immediate “priority is to help people” facing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
He stressed that the urgency of the situation on the ground “should not prevent work on a conference to create lasting peace in the long and medium term.”
Mr Borrell said the Israeli minister “could have made better use of his time” after showing his European counterparts videos about a possible artificial port island off Gaza and a transport corridor to India.
“What other solutions do they have in mind?” Mr. Borrell said of Israel. “To get all Palestinians to leave? To kill her?'
The EU has pushed for a unified stance on the Gaza conflict as staunch Israel supporters such as Germany have rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire from countries such as Spain and Ireland.
But there is general support in the bloc for a two-state solution.
“The two-state solution is the only solution, and even those who don’t want to know about it have not yet thought of any other alternative,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell speaks to the press after the European Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on January 22, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium
A woman sits in front of a tent as displaced Palestinians, including children, try to survive in difficult conditions in the makeshift shelters they have set up in the deserted area near the Egyptian border in Rafah, Gaza, on January 22, 2024
Displaced Palestinians, including children, try to survive in difficult conditions in the makeshift tents they have set up in the deserted area near the Egyptian border in Rafah, Gaza, on January 22, 2024
A general view of a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 22, 2024
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip take part in a protest demanding their release outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on January 21, 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on November 21, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel
Also on Monday, dozens of family members of Hamas hostages stormed a committee meeting in the Israeli parliament and demanded an agreement to release their relatives.
“These are our children!” They shouted. Some had to be physically restrained and at least one person was led out.
The developments highlighted the increasing pressure on Mr Netanyahu, who has campaigned on both fronts.
He has insisted to the Israeli public that continuing the devastating offensive in Gaza is the only way to bring the hostages home. At the same time, he rejected the United States' vision for a postwar resolution and said he would never allow a Palestinian state.
In the dispute over the future of the Gaza Strip, Israel faces its most important ally and much of the international community. It also represents a major obstacle to plans for a postwar government or the reconstruction of the coastal area, large parts of which have been rendered uninhabitable by Israeli bombing.
As fears grow that Israel's war in Gaza could spark a larger regional conflict, the U.S. and British militaries bombed eight sites in Yemen used by the Houthi rebels.
It was the eighth time the U.S. has bombed Houthi sites since Jan. 12, U.S. officials said late Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation.
The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked shipping in the region's waterways and said they wanted to end the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
In southern Gaza, Israeli attacks and shelling intensified in and around the town of Khan Younis, causing Palestinian families to flee south in pickup trucks and donkey carts loaded with possessions.
In the city, which has been a battle zone for weeks, people dug graves for the dead in the courtyard of Al Nasser Hospital as staff struggled with dozens of newly killed and wounded people, including children.
Health workers said strikes hit at least four schools housing displaced people on the western edge of the city, including two within a coastal strip that Israel has declared a safe zone for people on the move.
Internet and telephone networks in the Gaza Strip collapsed again on Monday for the tenth time during the war.
The repeated power outages are severely hampering the distribution of aid vital to the survival of the territory's 2.3 million residents, U.N. officials said. The loss of service also prevents Palestinians from communicating with each other and with the outside world.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “complete victory” over Hamas and return all remaining hostages after the October 7 rampage in southern Israel that sparked the war.
In this attack, around 1,200 people were killed and Hamas and other terrorists kidnapped around 250 people.
Israelis are increasingly divided over whether both are possible.
Yemen's Houthi supporters raise their rifles and shout slogans as they take part in a tribal rally and parade against U.S.-led airstrikes on sites in Yemen and in solidarity with Palestinians on January 22, 2024
Yemen's Houthi supporters demonstrate and demonstrate against United States-led airstrikes on sites in Yemen and show solidarity with Palestinians near Sana'a, Yemen, on January 22, 2024
Around 100 hostages were released in November as part of a week-long ceasefire deal in return for the release of Palestinians detained by Israel.
About 130 remain captive, although some have now been confirmed dead. Hamas has said it will release more prisoners only in return for an end to the war and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu has ruled out such an agreement, but anger is growing among the hostages' families. Relatives and other protesters set up a tent camp outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence on Sunday and vowed to stay there until a deal is reached.
Around 85 percent of Gaza's population has now been driven from their homes by the war.
U.N. officials say one in four people in Gaza are going hungry as fighting and Israeli restrictions hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid.
According to the United Nations, there are only 15 bakeries in the entire Gaza Strip, all in either Rafah or downtown Deir al-Balah.
The Israeli military says it killed around 9,000 terrorists in its offensive, without providing evidence, and blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll because it operates in densely populated residential areas.
The war has also heightened tensions across the region, as Iranian-backed groups have attacked Israeli and U.S. targets in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.