Israeli defense minister publicly criticizes Netanyahu’s Gaza strategy

Read the Full Transcript

• Geoff Bennett:

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back today against criticism of his Gaza strategy from within his own government.

  Israel's defense minister accused Netanyahu of indecision and leading Israel down a — quote — "dangerous course." The public infighting comes as the Biden administration this week said Israel did not have a political plan for what's next in Gaza.

  Nick Schifrin has been following this, and he's here with us now.

  So, Nick, what happened today in Israel? It looks like the private infighting has burst into public view.

• Nick Schifrin:

  For months, the Israeli military has been pushing Benjamin Netanyahu to look beyond individual military operations and lay out a political plan for the future of Gaza, lay out the goals that the military operations that he's ordered are designed to achieve.

  And, today, Gallant, the defense minister, said that, since October, he and military commanders have been pushing for a plan to have governance in Gaza led by Palestinians with international actors, and that would presumably require the Palestinian Authority to participate.

  And, today, Gallant said that his proposal was never even debated and no alternative had ever been proposed.

• Yoav Gallant, Israeli Defense Minister (through translator):

  Indecision is, in essence, a decision. This leads to a dangerous course which promotes the idea of Israeli military and civilian governance in Gaza. This is a negative and dangerous option for the state of Israel, strategically, militarily and from a security standpoint.

  We must make tough decisions for the future of our country, favoring national priorities above all other possible considerations, even with the possibility of personal or political costs.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Those personal or political costs that he's speaking about is a direct reference to Netanyahu.

  There are senior U.S. officials who I speak to, Geoff, who are increasingly concerned that Netanyahu is prolonging the war in order to remain prime minister. Netanyahu, of course, denies that. And he said today that his plan was to install Gazan families unaffiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but that plan had been blocked by Hamas.

• Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator):

  Therefore, all the talk about the day after, while Hamas remains intact, will remain mere words devoid of content. Contrary to what is being claimed, for months, we have been engaged in various efforts to resolve this complex problem.

  In any case, there's no alternative to military victory. The attempt to bypass it with this or that claim is simply detached from reality. There's one alternative to victory, defeat, military, diplomatic and national defeat.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Detached from reality. He's speaking about his own defense minister's comments there.

  It's important to note that Netanyahu is worried about his coalition staying intact, members of which have been called — have called for the reoccupation of Gaza and a much more punishing military operation in Gaza.

  One of them today, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, tweeted this. He said that "Gallant failed on October 7. He continues to fail now and must be replaced."

• Geoff Bennett:

  So, how does the Biden administration view all of this?

• Nick Schifrin:

  The Biden administration has been pushing Netanyahu to accept the Palestinian Authority to run Gaza after the war, and that would unlock some of the larger proposals that the Biden team has been pursuing, especially unlocking Arab participation in the day-after plan.

  And, this week, Jake Sullivan made another criticism public. He said that Netanyahu needed to embrace some kind of political strategy, those goals to — that he wanted to achieve in order to win this war. And U.S. officials tell me that call has not been heeded.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Meantime, Nick, Israeli forces are expanding their operation in Rafah. Is this the same operation that the Biden administration has been advising Israel against?

• Nick Schifrin:

  U.S. officials tell me that the operation so far has been targeted at the border in order to prevent Hamas from smuggling both weapons and people in, and U.S. officials say they have been doing that, as well as in the eastern part of Rafah.

  Netanyahu said today that half-a-million people from Rafah had fled and that — quote — "The humanitarian catastrophe that's been spoken of has not been realized, nor will it."

  But we spoke to Dr. Adam Hamawy, one of 10 American doctors who's stuck in a hospital in Southern Rafah. He's been stuck there since Israeli forces seized the border and closed the border. He served in Iraq, and he helped save the life of Senator Tammy Duckworth in 2004 when she was injured. That injury cost her both her legs.

  And Hamawy said today that the conditions in his hospital were both dire and tragic.

• Dr. Adam Hamawy, Palestinian American Medical Association:

  The hardest thing for me is, honestly, the little children that are coming in with life-changing injuries.

  It's the boy that I took care of today that lost an arm, two legs, and part of his remaining hand. I took care of both U.S. military, Iraqi military. I took care of contractors. I took care of civilians that were injured in the fight.

  But the degree and the level of casualties that are innocent civilians, most of my patients have been young children, women and elderly people that are in their 60s and 70s.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Israel blames Hamas for all of those civilian casualties, Geoff. And Duckworth says she's appealing to both the Israeli government and the U.S. government to try and get him out.

• Geoff Bennett:

  OK.

  Nick Schifrin, thanks for that great reporting. We appreciate it.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Thank you.

Improved audio player available on our mobile page