In Gaza, the Israeli military continues on the offensive and, in the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent the last week courting more support for Israel’s attack on the Palestinian enclave.
But this apparently shared objective does not reflect reality: a growing divide between the generals and the government. And analysts say that means Israel’s initial unity when it came to the war in Gaza is a thing of the past.
Differences emerge openly from time to time. More recently, they have focused on recruiting ultra-Orthodox students from Israel’s yeshiva — military generals and many secular Israelis want them drafted like other Jews, but the ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose the draft are a vital part of Netanyahu’s cabinet. .
However, perhaps more important for Gaza are differences over the conduct of the war and how to end it.
In June, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “Anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.” The problem is that one of these people is Netanyahu himself, who clearly made the destruction of Hamas one of his conditions for ending a war that has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians. This criticism is part of a broader dissent among some Israeli leaders – and even Netanyahu’s own Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, has questioned whether there are plans to end the war, which began in October.
Netanyahu reserved his own criticism for the army, harshly criticizing the plans that the military had announced, also in June, for daily “tactical pauses in fighting” to facilitate the delivery of aid. An Israeli official at the time was quoted as saying that Netanyahu had made it clear to the military that this was “unacceptable.”
Differences between the military and Israel’s right-wing political establishment are nothing new and are particularly rife at this time due to the presence of the far right within the government.
Over the past 20 years, far-right settler movements have gone from an atypical position on the margins of Israeli politics to the forefront of Israeli political and institutional life. Former supporters of Jewish movements that are banned as “terrorist” groups now hold senior ministerial positions, without any attempt to repudiate their former affiliations.
In addition to an energized and often aggressive base, far-right representatives dominate many of Israel’s institutions, including the police and education system, with their influence over Israel’s traditionally secular army increasingly apparent.
Rise of the far right
By repeatedly threatening to abandon and overthrow Israel’s electorally vulnerable coalition government, ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ended up exercising an effective veto over national policy.
This includes any potential ceasefire agreement in Gaza – and Netanyahu has chosen to ignore those in the West calling on him to end what is an internationally unpopular war, fearing instead the wrath of the far right. Netanyahu has his own legal problems and losing the protection his current position affords him could cost him dearly.
The extreme right’s critical view of the army is not new. Rather, it stems from the military’s role in the 2005 expulsion of illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza, a measure violently resisted by the enclave’s settlers, and from their ongoing – if sometimes turbulent – relationship in the occupied West Bank, officially administered by the army. since then. 1967.
“It sounds strange, I know,” said Eyal Lurie-Pardes of the Middle East Institute, “but the settler movement has repeatedly accused the military of anti-Jewish bias in the West Bank.” And some of that suspicion goes beyond differences over war policy.
“With its emphasis on gender balance and the rights of the LGBTQ community, the military is often criticized by settlers and the ultra-Orthodox for what they consider its progressive culture,” Lurie-Pardes said.
According to independent Israeli analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg, the “march through the institutions” of religious Zionists and the far-right, spurred by the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, has seen a gradual infiltration of many of the country’s institutions, from the media from communications, to education and the judiciary, but the slow-changing army hierarchies are a work in progress.
However, its influence in the armed forces is growing. In a recent report published by The Guardian, the British newspaper suggested that around 40 percent of graduates from the army’s infantry officer schools come from hard-line religious Zionist communities, more aligned with the worldview of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. than from the ultra-Orthodox Haredim, who avoid military service, or the senior commanders of the Israeli military’s secular old guard.
“We can see this influence in both Gaza and the West Bank,” Flaschenberg said, referring to the areas – the latter in particular – that Israeli settlers consider theirs by divine right. “We have these lower and mid-ranking officers repeating these almost genocidal religious chants, while at the same time turning their backs or committing horrific rights abuses. At the same time, their generals denounce such actions, without doing anything to stop them.”
One such notable denunciation came in early July from outgoing Israeli general Yehuda Fox, who had served in the Israeli army since 1987. He publicly condemned settler violence, which had claimed dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank during the course of the war. , calling it a “nationalist crime”.
And yet, ultimately, the military’s criticism of Israeli actions in the West Bank remains few and far between, and the military itself conducts almost daily attacks on Palestinian cities, towns and villages, and has even attacked them from the air since October. . . The regular mistreatment of Palestinians under occupation is also rarely, if ever, criticized by senior army leaders.
As for the war in Gaza, both the army and the government have fully supported the widespread destruction of Gaza and accepted the murder of thousands of Palestinians, with differences largely over tactics and future plans.
At war with the army
In early July, Gallant told the public that the army needed 10,000 additional troops immediately to maintain operations.
In early June, media reports pointed to shortages in both equipment, ammunition and troops, with more and more reservists not arriving for duty, reports of tanks entering Gaza only partially equipped and damaged equipment that was not treated.
Reports also indicated that the army was ready to reach a truce with Hamas if that agreement led to the return of the remaining captives inside Gaza.
“People are unhappy, but we are nowhere near reaching critical mass,” said Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group. “However, this is as close to it as I can remember. I can’t think of any other time when criticism [on both the army and government sides] was carried out on this scale.”
Yet across Israeli society, signs of war fatigue are growing. The Israeli association New Profile, which supports Israelis hoping to avoid military service, reports a growing number of inquiries from recruits and reservists eager to avoid serving in the Israeli military.
“There has been an increase in investigations since October 7,” a spokesperson for the group told Al Jazeera, referring to the start of the conflict.
“We are seeing more and more reservists turning against the war or not wanting to return after being traumatized by previous deployments,” the spokesperson said.
Although far from ready for mutiny, few would suggest that the army is not under unparalleled pressure.
Lacking personnel, insufficient equipment and no clear victory in sight after almost 10 months of war, the Israeli army nevertheless finds itself fighting on multiple fronts.
In Gaza, it maintains a monopoly on force. In Lebanon, threats and harassment. However, internally, he finds himself surrounded: with the far right taking control of his ranks and the politicians he has committed to serving accused of prioritizing their own ends above those of the army they command.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
