Growing rift between Netanyahu and army chief of staff • FRANCE 24 English

As pressure mounts on Israel this Tuesday over its deadly military operation in the Gaza Strip, the European Union, Britain, Japan calling for urgent action to stop famine in Gaza. Five more Palestinians have died of starvation. This brings the total killed by famine to 227. And of course, in the broader scheme of things, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli bombardment since October the 7th, 2023. Meanwhile, dissent grows inside Israel over the continuation of the military operation, and this includes from families of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Elsewhere, Egypt says it’s working with fellow Gaza mediators Qatar and the United States who try to broker a 60-day ceasefire as part of a renewed push to end the Israel Hamas conflict. Let’s bring in Noatana Pski, our correspondent in Jerusalem for more on the situation. No, good evening to you. There is right now a rally taking place in Tel Aviv. Tell us about that. Good evening. It’s an astonishing rally. More than 400 Israel Air Force pilots, some of them retired, but many of them still serving actively in the Israeli reserves, rallying outside the headquarters of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, calling for an end to this. and I’m quoting now to this futile war. This of course must be something that adds even more pressure onto Benjamin Netanyahu. That’s right, Mark. It’s an it’s an astonishing development at the end of a pretty uh dizzying few days in which ties between the Israeli defense establishment, the security establishment of the state and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s very extremist government have simply come apart in front of the public. We saw the chief of staff of the Israeli army, General Ayal Zamir, oppose the government’s plans to take over the city of Gaza, to expand its war in Gaza. And since then, we’ve seen a concerted war directed in public against him from the government. He was denied access to meet the defense minister yesterday when he came to the to the minister’s office. He was told that the minister was busy in another meeting. Um since then the defense minister on behalf of the government has said he will refuse to uh okay the senior appointments made by the Israeli chief of staff of the army as generations of chiefs of staff have made before him. And this is now midwar an open declaration of war between the country’s civilian authorities and its army. Similarly, we’ve seen other steps taken today which um have led to this astonishing protest we see now in which the Israeli AR air force pilots are saying we support the chief of staff. We support an end to this war and we oppose the government’s moves. And does this really put the type of pressure on Netao that could see him actually ousted from his position? Because clearly as the political uh discord grows, as discord among the military grows, and of course it’s already there among certain aspects of the population, it must be pointing towards the exit for Netanyahu surely. Well, logic would dictate that absolutely. And yet, I have to tell you, we don’t see it happening. I mean, it’s a it’s really a difficult to describe situation. Prime Minister Antino at this point leads a minority government. He’s uh counts with the support of only 49 out of 120 members of the Knesset. But some of those who’ve abandoned his government will still refuse to vote in a non-confidence motion against him because they are holding on each one of them to their seat of power. And because of the unpopularity of this prime minister and of this government, they are reluctant to the point of absolute refusal to oust him. So, we’re in a situation right now today in which the justice minister locked the attorney general out of her office. She’s the chief judicial officer of the country. She’s the chief prosecutor in Netanyahu’s corruption trial. We’ve seen the finance minister of the country say quote that he has lost confidence in the prime minister but refusing to resign again holding on to power. And so the country in in terms of its public governance is right now in a situation uh of complete and total chaos.

Tensions have been simmering for two weeks between the Israeli military chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the next steps in the military operation in Gaza, aimed at freeing the remaining hostages and defeating Hamas. Hundreds of Israeli reservists took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against PM Netanyahu. FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem.
#Israel #Gaza #Netanyahu

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22 comments

  6. The pain in Gaza is unbearable, and the anger and helplessness we feel as observers are overwhelming. We also think that our cries of anguish and pleas for government action are like a low hum in the ears of those in power, or like a small fly that they can wave away. The governments of the world are failing us all!

  15. The squabbles of global powers, the wars between the vanishing people! Don't think that babies, people, are important to the governments of the supporting countries! A new game of imperialism, simply lining its pockets at the expense of the innocent! Here it is, on the chessboard; the EU plays the "I recognize Palestine" card! Against the US's interests in Ukraine, the Middle East, Gaza, and the Zangezur corridor, the "I recognize Palestine" card. I won't stop supporting Ukraine! What's in your interest? What's in my interest? They close their eyes and go to sleep before you or me at night, rest assured!

  18. What a pity they didn't protest before, but let's see if Netanyahu will listen. The IDF has allowed itself to be manipulated into perpetrating war crimes.

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