by Amir Tibon at Haaretz
The resignation of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi on Tuesday didn’t come as a surprise to most Israelis.
There has been talk for weeks of the Netanyahu government’s intention to fire him. That move was supposed to serve two purposes, both of which have nothing to do with the war in Gaza or the recently signed cease-fire agreement.
- IDF chief Herzl Halevi resigns over failures of October 7 Hamas attack
- Netanyahu agreed to a hostage deal with Hamas. But it’s not the deal he sold to supporters
- For Israel’s enlightened center left, the army chief is the latest new messiah
The first, and most urgent one for the ruling coalition, was to remove an obstacle from its controversial bill to exempt ultra-Orthodox men from military service – something Halevi has taken a tough stand against in recent months. He warned that the legislation would leave the military thousands of soldiers short and damage Israel’s national security.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
whose hold on power depends on the support of the Haredi parties in his coalition, dismissed those warnings. Previously, he did the same to then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who also railed against the Haredi draft bill and eventually found himself out of a job.
The second reason is Netanyahu’s ongoing campaign, from the very first hours of October 7, to remove all responsibility for the massive failure from his own shoulders. Instead, he wants to place it entirely on the military and intelligence agencies…
Continue Reading