Division in the ranks of the Israeli war-time decision makers were bound to erupt at some point, as the frustration grows over the recognition that the outright elimination of Hamas is probably “mission impossible” and definitely not a goal that’s feasible to attain within the near future.

Also, it’s becoming more apparent that freeing 100+ remaining hostages taken captive on October 7, 2023 when Hamas, the Iranian backed terrorist governing group over Palestinians in Gaza, savagely killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreign citizens, while kidnapping 240, isn’t happening even with continued Israeli military pressure on Hamas. But as Israel’s war on Hamas enters the 4-month stage, and the likelihood of success of totally eliminating Hamas members in Gaza becomes less and less likely, so goes the hope for the return of hostages being released from Hamas’s control in Gaza, in reasonably sound condition.

For most Israelis, the release/ rescue of the hostages still in captivity is their number one priority.

Finally, around January 18, 2024, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the support of his far-right governing partners, publicly announced his long-held opposition to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine as he confirmed his plans for Israel to be in charge of security in Gaza, post war.

That pronouncement by the prime minister was the catalyst for the first signs of a major public eruption within the Israeli war cabinet that have been shared on Israeli TV and with the press.

As per a January 20, 2024 Haaretz report, “Report: Four Israeli Generals Predict Drawn-out War in Gaza Likely to Cost Hostages Lives”

Excerpts:

“Four senior Israeli army generals said to the New York Times that a prolonged campaign to overthrow Hamas’ rule in the Gaza Strip will most likely cost the lives of Israeli hostages.”

• Israel is facing existential threats from inside and out. There’s one solution
• Israel’s amateurish handling of the hostages’ medicine is a symptom of Netanyahu’s ills
• Protesters gather outside Netanyahu’s house calling for release of Israeli hostages

The respected former chief of staff of the Israel Armed Forces Gadi Eisenkot shared some hard truths with the Israeli peoples. The following articles’ excerpts provide details.

As per a January 19, 2024 Daily Mail news report, “Mr. Eisenkot told Israel’s Channel 12 network: ‘The hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting’.

“He said this would need to be ‘three or four times’ as long as the week-long pause in fighting in November which saw a limited release of hostages.”

“He added that making a claim they can be freed by other means ‘is to spread illusions.”

“Mr. Eisenkot, whose son Gal, 25, was killed in the conflict last month, called for elections to be held soon so Israelis could deliver their verdict. “

“He said ‘Israel needs to ask itself… ‘How do we continue from here with a leadership that has failed us miserably?'”

As per the January 19, 2024 Newsweek report, “Welcome Opposition to Netanyahu From Within His War Cabinet” by Menachem Z. Rosensaft, Adjunct Professor of Law, Cornell Law School:

Excerpts:

“Kudos to Gadi Eisenkot. The former chief of staff of the Israel Armed Forces may not be a household name in the United States . . . yet, but he may well be one of the faces of Israel’s future.”

“Eisenkot is a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party that crossed over from the opposition to join a short-term emergency war government in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 pogrom perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups against Israeli civilians.”

“After Netanyahu voiced his unalterable opposition to both new elections and any future Palestinian state, Eisenkot had had enough. “It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust,” he said in a television interview only hours after Netanyahu had declared that “going to elections would be irresponsible and would badly halt the war effort.”

Eisenkot also put the lie to Netanyahu’s boast that the war was going well and that “complete victory” over Hamas was achievable. “Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth,” Eisenkot said pointedly, adding that, “Today, the situation already in the Gaza Strip is such that the goals of the war have not yet been achieved.”

“Eisenkot is not just a highly respected general who led the Israel Armed Forces with distinction from 2015 until 2019. He is also the father and uncle of Israeli soldiers killed in the present Israel-Hamas war. Both he and Gantz have also identified publicly with the families of the hostages still held captive in Gaza by Hamas.”

“The significance of Eisenkot’s public repudiation of Netanyahu’s hardline stance cannot be underrated. He has laid bare the stark and, to many if not most Israelis, terrifying reality that Netanyahu’s true goal is to stay in power as long as he can, regardless of the consequences, even if that means prolonging the war and antagonizing Israel’s staunchest allies, that is, President Biden and the United States.”

“It is no secret that Netanyahu is gambling on Biden’s defeat in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and that a future Trump administration would be more sympathetic to Netanyahu’s rejection of Palestinian statehood in any form whatsoever. Netanyahu’s single-minded goal, therefore, is to remain prime minister until then. His problem—ok, one of his many problems—is that most Israelis want him gone long before then.”

“Gantz and Eisenkot are also viewed as staunch supporters of Israel’s democratic traditions, in contrast to Netanyahu whose efforts to scuttle the independence of Israel’s judiciary encountered stiff popular resistance. Gantz and Eisenkot are also seen as bulwarks against ultranationalist extremists such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin who dictate the present government’s far-right policies.”

“As I have written previously, the argument that nations do not change leaders in the middle of a war is bogus. The British and French did so numerous times during World War I, and the Brits famously replaced Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill eight months after the outbreak of World War II.”

“Eisenkot has just provided the majority of Israelis—according to some polls, up to 85 percent—who would like to see Netanyahu and his acolytes in their political rear view mirror with an off ramp. I am certain that he gave his television interview yesterday with Gantz’s approval and is daring Netanyahu to do something about it.”

“Netanyahu, who is in the midst of several criminal prosecutions, prefers the prime minister’s office to a possible jail cell.”

“There are indications that Deri, perhaps the canniest Israeli political operator, is becoming increasingly more sympathetic to Gantz and Eisenkot’s moderate and pragmatic inclinations than to Netanyahu’s attempt to maintain a self-serving stranglehold over Israel’s future. If Deri were now to join forces with Gantz and Eisenkot, it could well be game over for Netanyahu.”

Another dissention in the ranks has to do with an attempt by Israel’s army to begin investigations into the failures that led up to the October 7 attack. It seems that the IDF (Israel Defensive Forces) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi hadn’t properly prepped others about how he had appointed retired generals to a military inquiry commission to investigate some of the key intelligence and operational failures that led to Hamas’s successful execution of savage attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023. After he shared his plans for an inquiry, he was viciously attacked by right-wing ministers, to where this plan was frozen.

As per the January 17, 2024 Wall Street Journal article,”Divisions in Israel’s War Cabinet Emerge as Gaza Conflict Enters Pivotal Stages“ by Rory Jones:

Excerpts:

“The small collection of wartime decision makers—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and former head of the Israeli military, Benny Gantz—is diverging publicly on the two biggest dilemmas they face: whether Israel should negotiate to end the conflict and free the hostages, and who should govern the bombed-out strip once the war is over.”

“They were united by a common enemy in Hamas. But as pressure has mounted from the Biden administration to limit Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza, and the government has failed to return all the hostages, divisions between the leaders have re-emerged.”

“Gallant on Monday said that “political indecision” about who would take responsibility for postwar Gaza would hurt the military campaign.”

“The U.S. wants a revitalized Palestinian Authority to take over with help from Arab states.”

“Netanyahu, under pressure from his far-right coalition partners to block the Palestinian Authority (which governs in the West Bank) from governing in Gaza, hasn’t so far articulated a vision for postwar governance there.”

“The end of the military campaign must be based on a political act,” Gallant said Monday.”

“Under pressure from the families of hostages held by Hamas and other militants in Gaza, Gantz, the head of the National Unity Party, and his deputy, Gadi Eisenkot, are pushing to enter talks with Hamas to bring home the roughly 130 captives still held in the enclave, according to Israeli media reports widely discussed among political analysts.”

“Netanyahu and Gallant, both in the ruling Likud party, meanwhile say that maintaining military pressure on Hamas will force the group to make concessions, according to the reports.”

“There’s clearly a distinction here between the two sides,” said Reuven Hazan, part of the political-science department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “If it was up to Gantz and Eisenkot, and tomorrow Hamas made an offer of ending the conflict in exchange for releasing all of the hostages, they would go for it. Netanyahu would say no.”

“While the prime minister and his defense minister are in agreement on continuing the war, they are increasingly at odds over who should govern Gaza after it.”

“Hamas appears to be seeking to exploit the war cabinet’s divisions. It released a video of what it said were dead bodies of 2 of the hostages held in Gaza. A third hostage, Noa Argamani, 26, was shown alive in the video, saying that the 2 dead hostages had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and calling on the Israeli government to end the war.”

“The 2 hostages were identified as Itai Svirsky and Yossi Sharabi by Kibbutz Be’eri and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which confirmed their deaths.”

“When asked about Gallant’s comments (about the war’s status), Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari pushed back, saying that fighting in the south “will take us time.” The military had more work to do both above ground and below ground in the vast tunnel network built by Hamas, Hagari said.”

“Now in its fourth month, the Israeli campaign has destroyed swaths of the enclave, displaced nearly two million people and resulted in widespread shortages of food and medicine. More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.”

“Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters and disrupted the group’s ability to launch attacks against Israel. But Israel hasn’t achieved its initial war aim of destroying Hamas completely.”

See: Haaretz Analysis via MSN: Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal Takes Back Seat Due to Netanyahu’s Political Calculations

In Strategic Bind, Israel Weighs Freeing Hostages Against Destroying Hamas/ NYT…